Playing her first Test match for India after barely turning 17, Shafali Verma scored an eye-catching 96 to take India to 231 in the first innings. Shafali and Smriti Mandhana (78) stitched an opening stand of 167 for the first wicket. The duo left the England bowlers clueless on how to get wickets. However, everything changed once the opening stand was broken by Kate Cross. She dismissed Shafali Verma for 96 and opened the floodgates for the England bowlers.
India were ultimately bowled out for 231 as they lost their last nine wickets for just 64 runs. Mithali Raj (2) and Harmanpreet Kaur (4) failed to get runs in the middle order. Meanwhile, Shafali Verma’s father was a proud man to see her daughter scored 96 on debut. She thus equaled former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid‘s debut score. Sanjeev Verma while talking to Times of India shared his excitement on seeing his daughter play well on her debut.
“I am happy with the fact that her runs contributed to India’s total and gave the team a good start. I was quite confident she would do well in the Test,” Verma, who set her on the road to become a hard-hitter, told IANS on Friday.
She Trained With Ranji Players – Shafali Verma’s Father
Sanjeev also said that he was not surprised at seeing his daughter play the English pacers feely. He said how she was groomed under tough conditions in her younger days which made her mentally tough as a cricketer.
“I am not surprised because she trained with Ranji Trophy cricketers of the Haryana state. Those guys bowl at 135-140 kmph. At the women’s cricket level, the speed of the deliveries is 100-110 kmph. So, naturally, she would find it easier to face the bowling in women’s cricket. You could see that in the way she faced up to the new ball bowlers,” said Verma.
Shafali Verma’s father Sanjeev also spoke about her attacking instinct as a cricketer. The right-handed opener hit 13 fours and two sixes in her 152-ball stay at the crease. Unfortunately, she missed a Test ton on debut by four runs.
“One of the things that helped her get into the attacking mould was a drill that we did together. I would pick an odd time, after 11 am or so, and take her and my son Sahil to the ground. I chose odd time to ensure there would be no crowd. Each of us would face six balls and whoever would hit most sixes or fours would get a reward of Rs.5 and sometimes Rs.10,” Verma further said.
He concluded by keeping his opinion on her daughter missing a century. “These things happen” he concluded saying.
