Shafali Verma (born 28 January 2004) is an Indian cricketer, an opening batter known for her fearless hitting. She first played for India at fifteen and broke a record held for thirty years by Sachin Tendulkar. She captained India to the first Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup, scored the fastest double century in women’s Test cricket, and was Player of the Match in the final when India won the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 2025.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Shafali Verma |
| Born | 28 January 2004, Rohtak, Haryana |
| Age | 22 |
| Role | Opening batter; occasional off-spin bowler |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| International debut | September 2019 (T20 International) |
| Teams | India, Haryana, Delhi Capitals (Women’s Premier League) |
| Major honours | Women’s World Cup winner (2025); Under-19 T20 World Cup winning captain (2023); Asian Games gold (2023); Commonwealth Games silver (2022) |
Early Life
She was born in Rohtak, Haryana. Her father, Sanjeev Verma, who ran a small jewellery shop, had wanted to be a cricketer himself and coached his children at dawn. No academy in the town would take a girl. He had her hair cut short and enrolled her as a boy; for a time she played in boys’ tournaments in place of her brother. She learnt to hit hard because the boys bowled fast.
In 2013, aged nine, she was in the crowd at Rohtak when Sachin Tendulkar played his last Ranji Trophy match. She has said that the reception he received made her decide to play for India.
Career
A record at fifteen
After scoring heavily in domestic cricket she made her T20 International debut against South Africa in September 2019, at fifteen. Two months later, against West Indies, she became the youngest Indian, man or woman, to score a half-century in international cricket, at fifteen years and 285 days, beating Tendulkar’s mark.
T20 World Cup, 2020
At the T20 World Cup in Australia she was India’s leading scorer as the team reached the final, and during the tournament rose to first place in the world rankings for T20 batters. She was sixteen.
Tests
On her Test debut, against England at Bristol in June 2021, she made 96 and 63. In June 2024, against South Africa at Chennai, she scored 205 from 197 balls, reaching her double century in 194 balls, the fastest in women’s Test history.
Under-19 captain
In January 2023 she led India to victory in the first Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup, in South Africa.
Setback and return
A loss of form cost her her place in the one-day side in 2024. She was not in the original squad for the Women’s World Cup held in India in 2025. When an opener was injured late in the tournament, she was called up as a replacement.
The 2025 final
In the final against South Africa at Navi Mumbai on 2 November 2025 she made 87 from 78 balls, the highest score of the innings, and then took two wickets with her part-time off-spin. India won by 52 runs, their first World Cup title, and she was named Player of the Match.
Leagues
She plays for the Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League and has played in the Women’s Big Bash in Australia and The Hundred in England.
Style
She is compared with Virender Sehwag for her wish to attack from the first ball. She has worked on her game against the short ball and on her fitness since her early years.
Personal Life
She continues to live in Rohtak with her parents, brother and sister. Her success is credited with encouraging many girls in Haryana, a state long known for its preference for sons, to take up cricket.
Featured image: Shafali Verma at the Prime Minister’s reception for the World Cup-winning team, November 2025. Photo by the Prime Minister’s Office, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
