The 21-year-old turned out to be India's golden arm in the ultimate showdown.
When someone says that Shafali Verma played an incredibly crucial role in winning a game for India, it is visualized with the bat in hand. But what happened on the night of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Final was an exception. Rarely does one see Shafali Verma bowling. But the 21-year-old took the D.Y. Patil stadium by storm on Sunday night, after displaying heroics with the bat in the first innings.
The aggressive youngster was drafted into the side just before the semi-final, after opener Pratika Rawal got injured while fielding in the match against Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai. Shafali was in outstanding touch in the domestic league, but had an uphill task ahead of her. She was dismissed for just a 10 runs against Australia in the semi-final, but scored a fluent 87 in the Final at the same venue.
Just after she was drafted into the side as a replacement for the injured Rawal, former cricketer Anjum Chopra had voiced her opinions on Shafali Verma bowling in the knockouts. “She can practice all she wants to, but if India have to rely on her bowling, then god save us”, orated Chopra in one of the pre-game analysis. However, it is safe to say that the former Indian cricketer will be proud to have been proved wrong by the youngster.
After being dropped from the main squad for the Women’s World Cup initially, Shafali Verma quickly became the epicentre of India’s victory in the game when it mattered the most. Turnaround stories have their own resemblance, but this would have been written in the stars. India beat South Africa in the wee hours of November 2, to lift their maiden World Cup title in their third Final appearance.
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The Women in Blue chased 339 at the same venue in the semi-final against Australia. However, after scoring 298 in the Final, they knew it was going to be enough. Playing in the Final fixture of a tournament like the World Cup brings its own pressure. To add to that, the pitch had something in it for the bowlers, unlike the one in the penultimate clash.
Upon being asked in the post match interview about Shafali Verma bowling, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that she wanted to try her luck with the youngster, as she had shone with the bat as well. Shafali was having a superb day out in the field, and trying an over of hers was going to do no harm to the outcome of the game.
Though the Indian skipper was not too vocal about the technicalities behind the move, handing the ball to Shafali Verma was anything but just a fluke. It was a brilliant decision that did the trick for India, as the youngster ended up dismissing both Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp.
The wicket was tacky, and the South African batters were enjoying the ball coming on to the bat. They needed pace on the ball, which Radha Yadav was consistently offering. Hence, it was easy to take her to the cleaners, which both Luus and Wolvaardt executed post the powerplay. However, Shafali Verma bowling a couple of overs was going to change the equation all over.
As soon as the youngster was handed the ball, the pace on the ball dropped drastically. With the ball doing a hit here and there, batters needed to use their skill and force in order to buy their runs, which were no more being distributed free by the hosts. Sune Luus was soon dismissed after she half-played a shot straight into the hands of Shafali.
Shafali Verma bowling for India costed them 36 runs in a span of seven overs. But she was able to manage two wickets, which got the momentum in India’s favour. Both Luus and Kapp were dismissed within three overs and pressure mounted on skipper Laura Wolvaardt. It was the same trick of slowing the pace down through which Deepti Sharma gained a five-wicket haul later.
“After she came into the side, we asked Shafali that she might need to bowl two to three overs per game. She replied by saying that she was ready to bowl 10 overs if the team needed her to”, said an emotional Harmanpreet Kaur after the game.
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