Shafali Verma Cocks A Snook At Selectors With A Fiery 96 On Test Debut

On a balmy Thursday on June 17 in England’s South-West coastal town of Bristol, the brightest star of Indian women’s cricket, Shafali Verma cocked a snook at India’s women selectors for not selecting her for the home limited-over series against South Africa. Shafali uncorked her typical bold and stylish brand of cricket that lit up the second day’s play of the one-off Test against England. Not accustomed to red-ball cricket, Shafali, 17 years and 141 days when she took guard, and one of the fortunate Test debutants sparkled with a knock of 96, hitting 13 fours and two sixes. The young right-hander fell in a moment of unbridled ambition to bring her century with a big shot. The Rohtak-born has been a whiff of fresh air playing electrifying knocks. She has not only breathed life into women’s cricket in India, but now has also campaigned straightaway for resumption of Test cricket across the world. It was a fallacy on the part of the women selectors to brand her as a Twenty20 specialist, when India’s women cricketers were pleading for continuous competitive cricket at domestic and international levels. Shafali took the centre stage at Bristol, raising a record first-wicket stand of 163 for India with left-hander Smriti Mandhana. It was India’s fourth century plus stand for the first wicket, and the world’s joint seventh highest in 889 Tests.