Shafali Verma Becomes Youngest To Make T20I Debut For India

Shafali Verma, on Tuesday, entered the record books when she made it to India’s playing eleven for the first T20I of the five-match series against India women in Surat. The highly-rated hard-hitting youngster from Haryana was handed a debut by India. In the process, she became the youngest Indian (men and women) to make debut in T20Is.

Overall, she became the second-youngest player to represent the India women’s team after Gargi Banerjee. Shafali Verma impressed in the Women’s T20 challenge in May which eventually paved the way for her maiden senior call-up.

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She had previously done well in the domestic circuit with Haryana during the 2018-19 senior women’s inter-state T20 tournament, making 186 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 187.87. She had also notched up the highest score in the tournament after blasting 128 from just 56 balls against Nagaland. Shafali made her debut at the age of 15 years and 240 days.

What a moment this is for the hard-hitting batter Shafali Verma, who makes her India debut today. She is only 15! ???#INDWvsSAW pic.twitter.com/nD0C6ApQld

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 24, 2019

Here is a list showing the youngest to make debut for the women’s team in T20Is: 

Shafali Verma – 15 Years, 240 Days
V Sneha Deepthi – 16 Years, 204 Days
Smriti Mandhana – 16 Years, 261 Days
Devika Vaidya – 17 Years, 109 Days
Latika Kumari – 17 Years, 157 Days

In men’s cricket, allrounder Washington Sundar is the youngest to make debut for Team India. The Tamil Nadu star made his debut at the age of 18 years and 80 days.

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Meanwhile, it was a debut to forget for Shafali Verma as she failed to open her account. She departed in the very first over after playing four balls without opening her account. India, nonetheless, kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never really got the impetus in the innings. They eventually ended up on 130 for 8 . Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was the top-scorer for the hosts, scoring 43 from 34 balls.

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