On this day: Shafali Verma becomes the youngest Indian to score a fifty

Shafali Verma is an international cricketer who plays for the Indian national women’s team and has the credit of achieving a record at a very young age. In September 2019, she got the chance to land in India’s Women’s T20 International squad to play a series against South Africa. She marked her T20I debut when she was only 15 and became the youngest Indian to play a T20I match. Her achievements didn’t end here, and she turned heads in the series against West Indies.

The achievement

In November 2019, she became the youngest half-centurion to have ever played for India in international cricket. Indian women’s team was on a tour of the West Indies, and in the very first T20I, Verma stole all the limelight. While batting first, Indian women posted a huge 184 onboard on the back of sheer heroics by Shafali. She played a magnificent knock of 73 runs off just 49 balls to help India in the best manner.

Shafali Verma scores her maiden T20I fifty at the age of 15 years and 285 days.

– 2nd youngest player to score a fifty in the T20I format. [Men/Women]

– Youngest Indian ever to score a fifty in International cricket. [Men/Women]#WIWvINDW

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) November 9, 2019

She was supported well enough from the other end by another ace batter, Smriti Mandhana. Mandhana smashed 67 off 46 to level up the team’s score. Shakera Salman and Anisa Mohammed picked two wickets each for the West Indies team. The hosts got wrapped up on just 101 runs and handed India women’s team a victory by a huge 84 runs. Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, and Shikha Pandey picked two wickets each for the team.

Shafali’s blazing knock of 73 runs broke batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s 30-year-old record as he was the youngest cricketer for long to have the same record on his name. She shared a record opening stand of 143 runs with Mandhana in women’s T20I by Indian batters to set the stage on fire.

Without a doubt, Shafali was named as the player of the match for her magical performance. To add to her achievements, she was named as the player of the series against the West Indies team as she amassed 158 runs in five matches. Ahead of the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the 16-year-old was named as the number one batter in WT20I cricket. When she was named in Indian’s women squad for the 2020 ICC WT20 WC, she also bagged a central contract from the BCCI.