Shafali Verma

Fondly known as Shifu, the 19-year-old opening batter is one of the most destructive players in world cricket at this moment. Born in Haryana, Shafali disguised herself as a boy at a young age to play cricket as there weren’t any academies for girls in Rohtak.

She first came to the limelight with a couple of noteworthy performances in the Women’s T20 Challenge 2019 in Jaipur. Later that year, she became the youngest debutant for India at the age of just 15. A couple of months later, she won the player of the series award in a T20I series in West Indies, where she also broke the record for the country’s half-centurion at the international stage.

At the 2020 T20 World Cup, she was India’s stand-out batter as the team finished runners-up. After this tournament, she never looked back and became a regular member of the Indian team. She also holds the record of the youngest female cricketer to score 1000 T20I runs. She also managed to reach the No. 1 position in the ICC T20I batters rankings.

Her exploits at the international level, saw her sign deals for the Birmingham Pheonix at the Hundred and Sydney Sixers in the Women’s Big Bash League. In 2021, she made her Test debut against England and was named the player of the match for scoring 159 runs in two innings, which included a 96-run knock.

She was part of India’s silver-medal finish at the Commonwealth Games in 2022. A few months later, she helped India to the Asia Cup triumph in Bangladesh. In the early part of 2023, she led the Indian U19 team to the World Cup trophy in South Africa, which was the first ICC silverware for the national women’s team. Now, she joins the Delhi Capitals for the inaugural Women’s Premier League.