Shafali Verma

The youngest-ever to play T20I cricket for India, Shefali Verma shot to fame during the women's exhibition match that was played towards the fag end of IPL 2019. Batting at the top of the order, she showed admirable gumption for a 15-year-old and despite not scoring a lot of runs, her immense confidence and clarity in shot-selection impressed one and all. Shefali also shone in the Women's T20 Challenge that happened later in the year and consquently got picked for the National team in the home T20Is against South Africa. Shefali's biggest strength is her fearless nature of gameplay and could be the perfect successor to Smriti Mandhana. Not many know that Shefali had to disguise as a boy during her childhood to train as there was no academy for girls in her native place, Rohtak. Her father reluctantly agreed to this plan despite the obvious fear of being caught. Having idolised Sachin Tendulkar, Shefali is also a huge fan of AB de Villiers. Her attacking style of play as an opener is obviously an afteraffect of Virender Sehwag's legacy.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan