Mumbai: Swashbuckling opener Shafali Verma acknowledged that she spent sleepless and anxious nights ahead of the recent ICC Women’s World Cup final against South Africa after failing to make an impression in the semifinal against Australia.
Shafali, who replaced an injured Pratika Rawal ahead of the last four match in Mumbai, fell for a 5-ball 10 against the Aussies, even though India mounted a magnificent chase to enter the title round.
“Like I said before, it’s not like I was playing the semis for the first time in a World Cup. I’ve played before and I had the experience of how to handle the pressure. But I couldn’t do well in the semifinal (against Australia), and only I know how I spent the nights until the final,” Shafali, who is supported by JSW Sports, told PTI.
But Shafali changed the script in the final, making a 78-ball 87 and later she also took two wickets as India defeated SA by 52 runs to land their maiden ODI World Cup. Shafali said her strategy was to keep the batting simple.
“I knew what the team wanted from me. So, in the final, I kept things simple and thought of executing my strategy. It went well and I was able to do well for the team,” Shafali said.
“I just tried to play grounded shots and not play uppish because it wasn’t a good batting wicket. The bowlers were getting some assistance and the ball was also sticking on the wicket,” she added.
However, the 21-year-old from Haryana said it was not easy for her to start a big tournament like the World Cup from the semifinal stage.
“Look, it’s not that I didn’t have baggage because I had joined the team for the semifinal. Absolutely, there was pressure. But I knew how important these games were for me. When I got the call, I thought that I will try my best to win the team.
“I kept things simple because a lot of times, we think that we want to have a big heart and we get pressured. I worked a lot on my practice sessions before the matches and kept things simple,” she noted.
Shafali said it was ‘God’s plan’ to put her back into India’s squad after initial omission, adding that she spent the time away from the ODI side working on her game.
“For the last one year, I wasn’t with the team in the ODI format. Wherever I was playing, I was paying attention to that. I put everything aside and focused only on domestic cricket. I have worked a lot on my mind, my body and on my cricket.
“Putting everything aside, I have focused only on myself. So, I think God gave me the best of the (returns for my) hard work,” she added.
So, how does she view the competition for the opening spot with Pratika?
For Shafali, the competition was more on healthy grounds.
“As far as the competition (with Pratika) is concerned, I never compete with anyone because as a player, we all have our own competition as to how we can make ourselves better. They (Pratika and Mandhana) both did well for the team and they both got the reward.
“Like I said, the whole team wins the World Cup. Pratika also did well and I am so happy for her. But what happened with her – no sportsperson wants to get injured. But this is God’s plan (for me),” Shafali noted.
The star batter said India’s triumph would change the perspective towards women’s cricket in the country.
“We are getting a lot of recognition now and we are getting a lot of love from the people of the country. Everyone is saying that you have made India proud,” she said.
“That’s what we play for, as cricketers, to hear these things. I am very happy to hear these things and get a lot of confidence.”
However, in the hour of glory, Shafali did not forget the selfless service of past Indian women’s cricketers, who toiled hard in an era of oblivion and financial instability.
“When we won the senior World Cup, we all said that this is not the victory of our team, this is the victory of women’s cricket which will stand tall in the next stage,” said Shafali.
She then hoped that the team could make a similar impact in red-ball cricket.
“Absolutely, (I hope the) BCCI will now work on to arrange many red-ball matches (as well) for us as it is not in our hands. But what I will say is that, the ex-cricketers before us, I think they did not get so much money or fame.
“They were at that stage and kept women’s cricket alive so people like me are living in a golden period. We only think about how we can make our women cricketers proud and how much we can do better,” she signed off.