Shafali Verma is not satisfied and eyes another World Cup
But now that she accomplished the great thing, how can she get satisfaction when there are a couple of days left before the Women's T20 World Cup?
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India won U19 T20 World Cup 2023
After 74 international-match experiences, Shafali Verma‘s inclusion in the Under-19 side wasn’t taken lightly. Why should a senior pro like her play with inexperienced players? There were debates of course, but management deemed it best to include her, after all, she passed the eligibility criteria of being under 19. She turned 19 a day before the final and received her favorite gift, the cup.
Three years ago on March 8, in the T20 World Cup final, chasing a challenging 185 runs, India suffered an 85-run loss; and how difficult it was for Shafali to leave behind that heartbreak at the MCG. Shafali, 15 at that time, would become India’s highest run-scorer in that tournament but could produce just two runs in the final against mighty Australia. She was inconsolable.
“Melbourne was a very emotional day for me in that final game, we didn’t win the game. When I joined the Under-19 team, I’m just telling all the girls, ‘We have to win this Cip, we are here for the Cup‘,” Shefali said after the match.
But now that she accomplished the great thing, how can she get satisfaction when there are a couple of days left before the Women’s T20 World Cup? “I am someone who focuses on the task at hand.
“When I entered the Under-19s, I only focused on winning the Under-19 Cup, and we have won that today. I will look to take this winning confidence with me and win the senior World Cup. I will try and forget this and get involved with the senior set-up and gel with the team and win the World Cup.” She was crying after winning the cup too, but they were “tears of happiness” obviously.
Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh will join Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. for the T20 World Cup
She was not all guns blazing with the bat, but who cares now that India won the trophy? After 45 and 78 in the first two matches against South Africa and UAE respectively, Shefali added 34 runs in the four innings, while in the final also, she fell cheaply. Her opening partner Shweta Sehrawat was the leading run-scorer in the tournament.
Sehrawat was just four runs ahead of English skipper Grace Scrivens who scored 293 runs and scalped nine wickets; was awarded Player of the Series. Now Scrivens is hopeful and excited to build her The Hundred career and the ultimate dream of representing her country. So will Sehrawat.
Shafali and wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, the senior pro they are, will leave this team to join Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, starting February 10 in South Africa. “I’m going to miss this batch,” Shefali said. But she might get to play many matches with some of her girls in the future.
Lastly, here’s a quick recap of the match. At the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, Shafali won the toss and opted to bowl first. Titas Sadhu, Archana Devi, and Parshavi Chopra scalped three wickets each. The other bowlers got one each. They displayed top-notch fielding with tight bowling to restrict their opponent to a meager 68 all-out.
India, although they also lost their openers-Shafali and Shrawat quickly- took no pressure in their chase as Soumya Tiwari and Gongadi Trisha cruised their team to a seven-wicket victory to lift the inaugural ICC Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup.
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Gouri Das
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