Recently veteran Mithali Raj retired from T20I cricket to concentrate on the ODI format and will continue to represent Inidian Women Cricket until the World Cup of 2021. Mithali has gone to play 89 T20Is in which she has scored 2364 runs at an average of 37.52 including 17 half-centuries. She has also represented the Indian cricket team in over 200 ODIs, scoring over 6500 runs. The Hyderabadi Cricketer Mithali Raj to social media to leave a special message for the match and wrote, “I thank all of you for the love and support you have given me throughout my T/20 career 🙏🏻. Onto the ODI’s now! #onwardsandupwards #lotstolookforwardto #gratitude.”
This led to the inclusion for the initiation of 15-year-old cricketer Shafali Verma in the Indian women’s cricket team for the upcoming home T20 Internationals vs South Africa. The reason behind the selection of the talented cricketer was her superb performance in the Women’s T20 challenge earlier at this year. It commendable achievement for the Haryana-girl to represent the country at such a young age. The world took notice to her brilliance at the women’s T20 challenge and played under the captaincy of Mithali for Team Velocity which was took place during the IPL earlier this year.
During the interaction with the media revealed what made her fall in love with the sport and motivated to take a cricket as profession. The young cricketer revealed that when she was 10 year old she had gone to watch her Idol Sachin Tendulkar play his final Ranji Trophy game ahead of his international retirement. She also went on to say that, “Jitne log Sachin sir ko andar dekhne ke liye khade the, utne hee bahar the (There were as many people outside the stadium as inside to get a glimpse of Tendulkar). Only then I realised how big a deal is to be a cricketer in India, especially when you are revered like Sachin sir.”
“I can never forget that day. My cricketing journey started from there,” the soft-spoken player said hours after getting the news of her selection for the T20 series against South Africa.”
The young cricketer created history by becoming the youngest players to be picked for India and the Rohtak-born opener journey has been outstanding and inspiring at the same time. The young cricketers trained extensively for hours. She is known for being big hitter of the ball. She first time showed the sign on being explosive batsman during the 2018-19 Inter-State Women’s T20 tournament where her scored 128 runs off 56 balls against Nagaland. Her talent came to notice of the selectors where she clobbered her opponent by scoring 34 off 31 balls in the women’s T20 Challenge which was held in Jaipur earlier this year against an experienced attack consisting of well reputed international names.
“I can never forget that day. My cricketing journey started from there,” the soft-spoken player said hours after getting the news of her selection for the T20 series against South Africa.”
The young cricketer created history by becoming the youngest players to be picked for India and the Rohtak-born opener journey has been outstanding and inspiring at the same time. The young cricketers trained extensively for hours. She is known for being big hitter of the ball. She first time showed the sign on being explosive batsman during the 2018-19 Inter-State Women’s T20 tournament where her scored 128 runs off 56 balls against Nagaland. Her talent came to notice of the selectors where she clobbered her opponent by scoring 34 off 31 balls in the women’s T20 Challenge which was held in Jaipur earlier this year against an experienced attack consisting of well reputed international names.
“I can never forget that day. My cricketing journey started from there,” the soft-spoken player said hours after getting the news of her selection for the T20 series against South Africa.”
The young cricketer created history by becoming the youngest players to be picked for India and the Rohtak-born opener journey has been outstanding and inspiring at the same time. The young cricketers trained extensively for hours. She is known for being big hitter of the ball. She first time showed the sign on being explosive batsman during the 2018-19 Inter-State Women’s T20 tournament where her scored 128 runs off 56 balls against Nagaland. Her talent came to notice of the selectors where she clobbered her opponent by scoring 34 off 31 balls in the women’s T20 Challenge which was held in Jaipur earlier this year against an experienced attack consisting of well reputed international names.
Shefali was trained at the academy in Rohtak and opened about her selection in the squad and was quoted “I was expecting this call-up to be honest. I had done well in domestic cricket and also in that big tournament in Jaipur. The recent camp at NCA also went well for me. So, yes I was hopeful.”
The Haryana cricketer also talked about her father role in helping her to fulfil her dreams and also revealed that Sachin Tendulkar was one of the major reason she took up sports. Her father by profession is a profession and was quoted saying that, “My papa always loved the game, and he wanted to pursue it but could not do that. He thought he could fulfil his cricketing dream through me. He took me to the nearby academy and I did not look back from there on. Now my five year siblings also want to play for cricket. My elder brother also plays.”
Also opened about her favourite shots and her favourite players in the Indian women’s team and was quoted saying that, “Stepping out to the spinners and hitting them for a straight six. Asked about her favourite players in the Indian women’s team, Shafali added: “Mithali di (Mithali Raj) and Harman di (Harmanpreet Kaur).”
“I met all the players recently at the NCA. I didn’t get to spend time with Harman di but Mithali di gave me confidence and told me to keep my head strong.”
The Indian team will take part in a preparatory camp at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru from September 12. The T20I series start in Surat on September 24. The ODI series will begin from October 9 in Vadodara. The Squad are as follows
Indian Women’s ODI squad:
Indian Women’s squad for first 3 T20Is:
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