Australia women’s A-team coach Leah Poulton has lavished praise on young Indian opener Shafali Verma for her powerful batting, and said the teenager is “one to watch over” in the future.
Playing for India-A women’s team, the 15-year-old smashed a 78-ball 124 in a one-day match against Australia-A last month in Brisbane leaving behind a lasting impression on Poulton.
Full of power
“She’s just an amazing talent, she’s only 15-years-old and she’s got so much power. She just had so much composure at the crease, she didn’t looked fussed at all. She’s definitely going to be one to watch over the next few years,” Poulton told cricket.com.au.
“We’d seen a bit of footage leading in, she’s played a bit of cricket for India. But when you watch footage of a player like that, it probably doesn’t do it justice because she’s actually got a really good presence at the crease,” she added.
Shafali, who made her debut in September, has represented India in nine T20Is amassing 222 runs. The Rohtak-born player hit two back-to-back half-centuries against the West Indies.
In November, she became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a half-century in international cricket when she hit a 49-ball 73 in a T20I against the West Indies.
Not typical Indian
“Even though she’s 15, she’s a tall girl and strong as well. When she walked out to bat, I thought, ‘that can’t be the 15-year-old.’ She’s not your typical Indian opening bat,” Poulton said.
“Over the years they’ve produced these opening bats with these amazing techniques and they’re really crafty, whereas she walked out there and she was just pure power.
“It was really good to watch, I did get into fan mode for a while.”
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