Women’s World Cup | Shafali should stick to her style: Raman

For Shafali Verma, dropped from the ODI set-up for lack of consistency in October 2024 ahead of the tour of Australia, the last 12 months have been about trying to prove to the leadership group, and herself, that she belonged to the 50-over game.

In 29 fixtures, she had just 644 runs at an average of 23.00, and it didn’t help her case when a promising opening partner for Smriti Mandhana emerged in Pratika Rawal. However, a freak injury to Pratika has opened the doors for Shafali again.

The aggressive opener was with the Haryana team in Surat for the senior women’s T20 trophy when she was called to Navi Mumbai for the World Cup semifinal against Australia.

“She has been out of the team for so long and that’s a lesson for her. She’s not someone to take the burden of pressure on herself… it’s the other teams who are under pressure just hearing her name,” Mahipal Singh, Haryana coach, told the The Hindu.

“She has also been trying to hit the ball straighter. She has worked on her head position. She now places her head slightly forward, so the height and length perception she has of the ball has changed,” he explained.

Former India head coach W.V. Raman underlined the challenge for Shafali. “She has to find a way to be a maverick in a set-up where mavericks aren’t generally preferred,” he had said ahead of the ICC showpiece.

“I would encourage her to not let go of her basic style and attitude. She shouldn’t try and become an imitation of somebody. She can be a No. 2 original, which is fantastic, rather than being a No. 1 imitation of somebody,” said Raman.