Shafali admits hiding being dropped from her father who suffered heart attack

India's opening batter, Shafali Verma, is going through a rough patch in her career. After her inconsistent performances, she was recently dropped from both the T20I and ODI sides, and consistency dipped across both formats. The selectors showed her the door, asking her to improve her game. 

However, it was tough for the 20-year-old to break this news at her home because her father, who has been coaching her since she was a child, had just suffered a heart attack just a few days ago.

“It’s not easy to get over it,” Shafali told Indian Express about her being dropped.  

“I didn’t want to reveal because my father had a heart attack about two days before I got dropped from the team. I hid the news from him till he got better. He was in the hospital. I told him a week later.”

However, as soon as Shafali’s father heard the news, he was back pushing his daughter to work on her basics and foundation which got her in the team in the first place and made her one of the most exciting youngsters in the cricketing world. 

“Father knows everything, sometimes as kids even we forget our strengths but they don’t forget,” Shafali said. 

“He reminded me of the workouts and drills from my childhood, and helped me to do the same. When I started, we had these knocking drills – where I play on-drive, straight drive and that’s what I worked on. These are my strengths and sometimes you need to work on them to remember how good you are at them.”

Also read - Shafali Verma focusing on "those singles, how to build the innings" for India comeback

Shafali, meanwhile, is smashing it hard in the domestic circuit post getting dropped. She has scored 759 runs in 10 innings of the Senior Women’s ODI and Challengers combined, at a skyrocketing strike rate of 149.4, proving how she’s above this level. She would have the Women’s Premier League (WPL) next month to build on that and strengthen her claim for the upcoming 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup in India. 

With the next series scheduled for June, Shafali is quite confident that her training will get her ready 'in time' for the next international series.

“If I am getting 500 odd runs in 5-6 days of practice, imagine what I can do with more work behind the scenes for a month or 20 days,” Shafali remarked.