CHENNAI: When India take on Zimbabwe in the first T20I in Raipur on Friday, Shafali Verma will assume a new role. One that has been a long time coming. The 22-year-old will be the India vice-captain for the first time in her already established career.
While she understands the magnitude of it all, Verma has never been one to get overawed by occasion. Not by a long shot. She broke into the Indian team at the age of 15, and perhaps felt the pressure of it all in front of 86,174 fans during the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup final against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
But that was six years ago. Verma, in this time, has gone through heaps of ups and downs. She became a regular across formats, led India to U19 World Cup title, lost form and was dropped from the team altogether.
It hit her hard as she went back to domestic grind and dominated. It earned her a call-up in the middle of a home ODI World Cup and she rose to the occasion to become the Player of the Final. And since coming back, she has been one of the consistent batters for India.
"I think in 2025, when I was out of the team, I sat down and analysed what things I need to work on, and my answer was this: first of all, consistency, and fitness towards my body, and mentally, I need to grow more mentally. So these three things I worked hard on at that time. I think because of that, everything is going well. So I'm just trying to be more consistent," she explained.
Though it remains to be seen what happens when injured Jemimah Rodrigues returns to the squad, Verma is already an important cog in the leadership group. And she is keen to leave her imprint on the team as a leader as well. "I have done captaincy in the U19 World Cup as well, so I know that experience. I know vice-captaincy is not just a title, it's a big responsibility. I know we have to just take care of each and every player and make them be in very good headspaces. I'm just trying to make every player very comfortable and just help the captain," added the 22-year-old.
The all-rounder credited former captain Harmanpreet Kaur for her contribution to women's cricket. "The shape that women's cricket is in today is all about Harman di (sister) only, so just thanks to her. Just talking about how we have to take women's cricket forward: first of all, in T20, we have to play a fearless brand of cricket with smartness as well. We have just talked in this series that we have to play the Champions Trophy with a fearless brand of cricket with smartness, and we have done lots of meetings. Everyone knows what to do, and you guys can also see the growth. So we're just trying to keep growing series by series," she said.