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Indian batter Shafali Verma plays a shot during the second women’s ODI cricket match between India and South Africa at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)Opening batter Shafali Verma was recalled to the India team on Monday after being drafted into the Women’s World Cup squad as Pratika Rawal’s replacement, ahead of the semifinal against Australia in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. Omitted from both the main squad and the reserves when the 15-member team was announced in August, the 21-year-old was picked after the ICC’s Event Technical Committee approved the right-hander as a replacement for the Delhi batter.
“The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 has approved Shafali Verma as a replacement for Pratika Rawal in the India squad. Verma was named as a replacement after Rawal was ruled out after sustaining an injury to her right ankle while fielding in the league match against Bangladesh on Sunday.”
“The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad,” an ICC press release said.
Verma’s addition comes after Rawal was ruled out due to an ankle injury that she sustained during the final league phase fixture against Bangladesh at Navi Mumbai. The 25-year-old sustained the injury after she overran and twisted her ankle while trying to stop a ball and did not walk out to bat in the second innings.
Verma has played 29 ODIs for India and scored 644 runs at an average of 23. She has amassed four half-centuries in her 50-over career, with a best score of 71 not out. She last played an ODI for India against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in October 2024. The right-handed batter was part of the side that bowed out in the league phase of the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
Neetu David, who concluded her term as the chairman of the women’s senior selection committee after announcing the World Cup squad, had said that Verma was a part of the scheme of things, but the selectors chose not to make too many changes to the current team.
“Shafali Verma is very much part of our system. Right now, she is playing in Australia, but we are keeping an eye on her. The idea is that the more she plays, the more experience she gains, and that will help India in the future, especially in the 50-over format. We don’t want to make a lot of changes to the team,” David had said.
Another encouraging sign for India is that Verma won’t be coming undercooked into the World Cup. The right-handed batter has been playing for Haryana in the senior women’s T20 trophy tournament, where she has scored 341 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 182.35 with two fifties and a hundred. Her last appearance for India came in the T20I series against England in July.
India did have four players to choose from the reserves, who included Tejal Hasabnis, Prema Rawat, Priya Mishra and Sayali Satghare. Uma Chetry, who made her ODI debut against Bangladesh on Sunday, was drafted into the squad after Yastika Bhatia injured her knee weeks before the start of the tournament.
However, the decision to bring Verma back into the fold indicates a need to go back to experience instead of trying out a makeshift opening pair against Australia. While the right-hander has been prone to inconsistency, a knockout scenario could free her mind and bring the best version of her out in the middle.
While Rawal brought composure and solidity to India’s top-order and showed her ability to play the big innings during the match against New Zealand, Verma could add a new dynamic to the powerplay overs. Her free-flowing game could offer India the early impetus to the innings and put opposition bowlers on the back foot.
While the demands of the 50-over format are different compared to T20s, Verma’s ability to maximise the field restrictions could come in handy and provide a headache for opposition captains to set fields against her.
Verma’s explosiveness at the top could also allow Smriti Mandhana to settle into her innings with a lot more ease. While the southpaw has formed a successful pairing with Rawal in their short time as an opening pair, her partnership with Verma could permit her to take fewer risks at the start of her innings and allow her to pace in a manner that could see her play longer innings for the team.
India would love for Verma to also play the long innings, but if she can start off the blocks quickly and set an early tempo to the innings, it could also help ease the pressure from the rest of the batting unit.
India have found it hard to increase the scoring rate in the middle overs with the opposition captain strangling them with spin. If Verma can provide an early injection of aggression at the top, then the middle order can try and bat at a normal pace, knowing that they are well on course to a big score.
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