Shefali Varma came out of syllabus

Poor South Africa. They must be cursing the sudden inclusion of Shefali Varna in the Indian ICC women’s 50-over World Cup. They had prepared so studiously and meticulously for the tournament and had a game plan for everyone, including Australia, England, New Zealand, India cricketers. Thus, when they defeated England in the semifinals and before that India at Vizag it must have seemed a vindication of their preparation and strategy. Suddenly, unexpectedly, India were forced to bring in the discarded Shefali Varma into the 14 and also playing eleven as regular opener, the successful Prateek Rawal, got her ankle injured and was ruled out of the tournament’s semifinals and final. She was the second highest Indian scorer (308 runs @51.3, including match-winning 100 vs New Zealand which helped India qualify got the semis). Any other team would have been devastated by the loss of such a key player. But India pulled off a master stroke by bringing in Shefali Varma, literally a pinch-hitter, as replacement. And this is where South Africa’s meticulous planning came unstuck! They had come very well prepared for Smriti Mandana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Jemima Rodrigues, et al. Their primary strategy was to bowl tight lines on the stumps and pack the field with a single-denying field. They put extra fielders in the ring and ensured that strike rotation would be a challenge against stump-to-stump bowling. But for them, Shefali Varma came out of syllabus! She countered the South Africans with stinging uppish strokes over extra cover, point and straight boundaries. The South Africans had no clue on where to bowl to her and how. She made a blistering 87 in 78 balls. No one else, barring Richa Ghosh (34 in 24 balls) at the end of the innings, matched her stunning scoring rate. But Shefali was not done yet. With the ball she struck two massive blows, getting rid of the experienced Marizane Kaap, one of South Africa’s best cricketers and the dangerous Sune Luus (25 in 31 balls). Although India could put more match-winners than South Africa on the playing field there is no doubt that Shefali Varma was the difference between the teams. She was rightly adjudged Player of the Final. Like with al success this wonderful win too should bring its share of issues. Many of the girls come from very humble backgrounds, being children of carpenters, vegetable vendors, small time coaches, etc. After this win they’d all be crorepathis thanks to BCCI incentives, prize-money, sponsorships, etc. Then there would be the fat pay checks from WPL, Big Bash, The Hundred franchises. No one grudges them their success but BCCI has a duty to mentor them and arrange money advisors, managers.

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Courtesy:  VEDAM JAISHANKAR and Spade A Spade,2025