Shafali Verma wants to win the senior T20 World Cup after scripting history with U-19 team
Indian U-19 World Cup-winning skipper Shafali Verma expressed her desire to lift the senior T20 World Cup after becoming the first women's captain to lead India to a World Cup triumph.
Shafali, who just turned 19 on Saturday, wasnโt yet content with the U19 World Cup win and will look to come out all guns blazing in the upcoming T20 World Cup slated to be played in South Africa from February 10 to 26.
The Indian U-19 team became the first womenโs team to win an ICC trophy after comfortably beating England by 7 wickets to become the inaugural champions.
Shafali was quoted as saying during the post-match presentation ceremony when asked if this was the only trophy she would pick up in South Africa for the season:
โNo, definitely not."
The T20 World Cup starts on February 10 with India meeting archrivals Pakistan in their tournament opener on February 12.
India were by far the best team in the tournament, having won all but one match during the course of the tournament.
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๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!๐๐
Hearty Congratulations to our Indian women U-19 cricket team for clinching the inaugural Women's U19 T20 World Cup.
This is historic win and India is proud of your achievement.๐ฎ๐ณ
All the best for future!๐
#U19T20WorldCup #INDvsENG https://t.co/li1KrAt7jO
They started off the campaign with a resounding victory against South Africa and followed it up with comprehensive victories against the UAE and Scotland.
They were never really challenged until Australia gave them a reality check in their opening Super Six game.
They went on to beat New Zealand in the semi-final before easing past England on the big day.
Riding on some sensational bowling by Titas Sadhu and the spinners, India skittled out England for just 68 runs, and the result seemed like a foregone conclusion.
Shafali Verma thanks BCCI and her teammates after a monumental win
India lost Shafali Verma early after smashing a four and a six, but she provided the impetus with a brisk 11-ball 15. Inform batter Shweta Sehrawat couldnโt quite make a contribution today, falling for 5.
However, the likes of Soumya Tiwari (24* off 37) and Gongadi Trisha (24 off 29) stitched together a vital partnership to eventually seal the deal for India on the final delivery of the 14th over.
Shafali Verma thanked the BCCI for giving her such a brilliant team that eventually scripted history. She also thanked her players for backing her and rising to the occasion in crunch situations.
Shafali Verma said:
โThe way all the girls are performing and backing each other, so happy. Incredible feeling. Thanks to the staff, the way they have been backing us every day and telling us that we are here for the cup and, because of them, we are here."
She added:
"All thanks to them. The players have been backing me a lot. Thanks to BCCI for giving me this beautiful team and I'm really happy about winning the cup."
Shafali couldn't control her emotions during the post-match presentation ceremony and was seen in tears during her conversation with the presenter.
This will certainly bolster the confidence of the senior women's team after seeing their young compatriots script history.