Former India Women captain Mithali Raj lavished praise on young opener Shafali Verma, who she feels possesses the ability to win games single-handedly for her team.
Still just 18, Verma has been one of India women’s premier match-winners ever since her international debut three years ago. The swashbuckling opener is known for her fluent stroke-play at the top, and has formed a formidable pair with Smriti Mandhana across formats.
Shafali recently scored 155 runs at 77.50 in India’s 3-0 ODI series win in Sri Lanka, and will be a key player at the upcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Raj, one of Women’s game greats acknowledged Verma’s game-changing abilities.
“I have been a big fan of her game. I have seen that she’s one player who has the ability to win the game single-handedly for India against any attack and any team. She is one of those players that you get to see probably once in a generation,”
she told ICC’s 100 percent ‘Cricket Podcast’.
Raj, who represented India in a glittering 23-year-long career and achieved numerous accomplishments, before announcing retirement last month, revealed how her first sight of Shafali assured her of a game-changer in the making.
“When I saw Shafali in a domestic match when she played against Indian Railways, she scored a fifty but I could see a glimpse of a player who could change the entire match just with her innings.”
“And when she played for Velocity in the first edition of the Challenger Trophy, she played for my team and I saw that she has the ability and the raw power that you rarely get to see at that age to clear the boundary and hit a six at will.”
Shafali has played 18 ODIs, 32 T20Is and just two Tests for India Women’s and has a total of nine fifties to her name as well in all formats combined, and she is a part of India’s CS squad as well. India’s campaign at the upcoming CWG 2022 games will begin against Australia at Edgbaston on July 29.
