Shafali Verma exceeded expectations in WT20, elates childhood coach Ashwani Kumar
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Ashwani Kumar, the childhood coach of 16-year-old Shafali Verma, expressed her joy over the youngster's performance in the WT20 and attested that Verma exceeded her expectations. The teenager caught everyone’s attention during the WT20, where she scored 163 runs at an astonishing strike-rate of 158.
Verma caught everyone’s attention during the Women’s T20 World Cup, where the 16-year-old scored 163 runs in five games at a healthy strike-rate of 158.25. In fact, her knocks of 46 against New Zealand and 47 against Sri Lanka were instrumental in guiding India to the knockouts of the World Cup.
Ahead of the final, Verma had jumped a mind-boggling 19 places to secure the No. 1 spot in the ICC batting rankings for women. She may be just six months into her young cricket career, but the youngster has what it takes to go on and achieve great things in international cricket, childhood coach Ashwani Kumar reckons.
“When she came to me first as a little kid (11), I taught her the basic stance and after few days, she was comfortable hitting the big strokes. Then she started training with the girls four years elder to her and in six months’ times, she was practising with the U-14 boys. She never felt out of place. Fast forward it to now, she trains with the fellow academy cricketers (like Ashish Hooda) who have played Ranji Trophy," said Ashwani Kumar, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
The Rohtak-born, who loves to play in the V, gained a plethora of fans around the world with her six-hitting ability in the tournament, especially the one that flies over the bowler’s head. There were also constant but pre-mature comparisons with the legendary Virender Sehwag. Seeing Verma take the best of the bowlers to the cleaners in Australia was hardly a surpise for her coach Ashwani Kumar, who runs the Shri Ram Narain Cricket Club in Rohtak.
“Before she left for the World Cup, I was not sure how she would handle the pressure of a big event but she exceeded my expectations and did well throughout. Having said that, it is just a start for her and she knows that,” the coach added.
Former wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra made his ODI debut in 2002 and was the youngest Indian wicketkeeper to score a century in Tests. Ratra played 99 first-class cricket matches and 89 List A cricket matches in his career and was also a part of the Under-19 cricket team which won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2000. Besides Ashwani, 38-year-old Ratra has also tracked the youngster’s career and recalled a certain incident which convinced him that Verma was special.
“The women’s team probables had a camp at NCA in June-July and I was part of it as the wicket-keeping and fielding coach,” Ratra, who played six Tests and 12 ODIs for India, said. “After seeing Shafali comfortably bat against Jhulan Goswami (senior India pacer) in the nets, I was convinced that she would be playing for India soon. And that is what happened. Even he was of the opinion that she could go on to become a very important player for India," said Ratra.
