New Delhi: Indian women opening batter Shafali Verma has revealed how watching Sachin Tendulkar’s videos of Test knocks helped her make a comeback into the Indian cricket team after being dropped last year. In a bid to make a comeback to the national team, Shafali, who is a big fan of Tendulkar, watched his videos religiously and it played a vital role in her coming back.
The Indian batter has said that the videos motivated her and taught her the importance of respecting the good deliveries while batting. The opener was dropped from bot the white-ball formats after the 2024 T20 World Cup which pushed her back to the domestic cricket where he scored lots of runs for Haryana and subsequently for Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Shafali recalled for England series
The performances in the domestic cricket and WPL helped her make a comeback as she has been named in the squad for the England tour which starts on Saturday. India women will play five T20Is and three ODI matches starting from June 28, which offers another chance to her to make a case for the 2025 ODI World Cup at home.
‘Earlier, I used to try to hit every ball for a boundary, but now I have learned to respect the good ones, Verma told BCCI in an interview. I watched Sachin sir’s Test innings. I got a lot of motivation from that, it reminded me of my childhood days when I used to not even miss a single game of his. I covered almost every match again. Watching that, I learned that the only way to build a good innings is by respecting the good deliveries,’ she added.
Shafali is likely to open the innings with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana in the England series.