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'Give me the ball, I'll bowl 10 overs': Shafali Varma's golden arm was Harmanpeet Kaur’s gut, youngster’s belief
Shafali Verma was adjudged as Player of the Match as she returned with 87 wickets and two wickets in the Women's World Cup final against South Africa.
It was indeed god's plan when it came to Shafali Verma. The 21-year-old, who was not named in the 15-member squad for the Women's World Cup, made it to the Indian team for the knockout stages after an unfortunate injury to Pratika Rawal. Before the semi-final against Australia, Shafali remarked that maybe God had sent her to do something special for the team, and this is exactly what happened on the all-important final as she turned out to be the ultimate game-changer, returning with 87 runs and two wickets against South Africa at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
When she scored 87 runs off 78 balls with the help of seven fours and two sixes, enabling India to post 298 runs on the board, one thought that her job had been done, and the bowlers needed to take it forward from there. But who knew that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur had different plans and Shafali would also be tasked with bowling some crucial overs and setting up India's maiden World Cup triumph.
After the initial wickets of Tazmin Brits and Anneke Bosch, South Africa's innings got back on track with the third-wicket partnership between skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus. The duo took down the specialists' bowlers Deepti Sharma, Sree Charani and Renuka Thakur Singh, and the game was slowly and steadily drifting away from India's grasp.
It was then that Harmanpreet pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the 21st over as she introduced Shafali into the attack. The move paid off immediately as the spinner prized out the wicket of Luus on just her second delivery. In her very next over, Shafali then got the wicket of Marizanne Kapp, breaking the back of the Proteas chase.
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Hence, it is no surprise that the Indian captain, Harmanpreet, was smiling and giggling at the post-match presentation when she was asked about the decision to bring in Shafali into the attack.
“When Laura and Sune were batting, they were looking really good. And I just saw Shefali standing there. And the way she was batting today, I knew today's her day. She was showing something special today. And I just thought I had to go with my gut feeling,” said Harmanpreet during a chat with Mel Jones.
“If my heart is saying I could give at least one over to her, I'm going to give her. And then I just asked her, Can you bowl one over? And she was so ready. And she always wanted to bowl for the team. And I think that was a turning point for us,” she added.
Chat with Shafali Verma
Harmanpreet then further revealed that the discussion about bowling started with Shafali as soon as she joined the squad before the semi-final against Australia. It is worth mentioning that before the final against South Africa, the youngster had just dished out 14 overs in her international career.
“When she joined the team, we spoke to her at that time, that we might need her to bowl two or three overs. Then she was like, If you give me the ball, I'm going to bowl 10 overs for the team. And that showed how confident she was to bowl for the team. And I think credit goes to her; she was so positive. She was there for the team,” said Harmanpreet.
In the final, Shafali eventually bowled seven overs, conceding 36 runs and taking two wickets. For her all-round performance, she was adjudged as Player of the Match.
“Absolutely. I said at the start that God has sent me to do something good. And today that has been reflected. And I am very happy that we finally won the World Cup. I can't express it in words,” said Shafali after picking up the award.
