Whenever 17-year-old Shafali Verma has batted for India on the biggest stages, she has reminded the entire nation of a former cricketer because of her belief in aggressive philosophy. ‘Watch the ball and hit the ball,’ Virender Sehwag used to say in defiance of cricket’s classic textbook manuals, but his model worked and it worked wonders. Shafali Verma’s game is also built around the same dogmas.
Tall, strong, and packing a punch, just like Sehwag, Shafali gets underneath the ball and smashes it a long way when she’s in the groove. She lives by the sword and dies by the sword and the comparisons with Sehwag not only stem from the media and fans, but even from her own coach.
“I always told her that you bat like Sehwag. She agrees as well. But she idolises Sachin Tendulkar. She says she wants to be like Sachin Tendulkar,” Shafali’s coach Ashwani Kumar told Times of India in an interview.
Shafali Verma had a red-ball debut to remember in India Women’s recent one-off Test match against home side England. She smashed breath-taking half centuries in both innings of the match and became only the fourth female cricketer to do so. Her stroke-play and powerful hitting drew praises from every quarter.
The 17-year-old narrowly missed a century in her debut Test innings and ended up falling four runs short. She then scored 63 off 83 deliveries in the second innings and was chosen as the Player of the Match with the contest ending in a draw.
Following the match, Shafali called her coach and told him that she’d play a Tendulkar-like innings the next time when the team is in trouble. “After the match, she (Shafali) called me and asked ‘coach saab, mai kaisa kheli’ (Coach, how did I play?). I told her – ‘outstanding and keep it up. I told her to keep playing match-winning knocks for the country. She had planned against every England bowler. When I told her to calm down a bit in some situations, she said – ‘I will play a Sachin Tendulkar-like innings when my team is in trouble,” said Ashwini Kumar.
Shafali further talked about how current Indian men’s skipper Virat Kohli’s fitness inspires her to do better. She said that she’s also focusing on her diet and fitness as a result and hopes that it improves her game on the pitch as well.
“Shafali is following Virat to remain fit. That’s why she can play long innings and with the same intensity. She stopped having butter, ghee, and junk food and now concentrates on her fitness. She has been inspired by Virat’s fitness and has been following her regime religiously,” Ashwani concluded.
