New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) For Shafali Verma, the Player of the Match in India beating South Africa by 52 runs in the final to lift the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup trophy, one of the most cherished moments in the aftermath of the epochal triumph has been seeing sheer joy on her father Sanjeev’s face.
“My father was very happy. Before coming back to Rohtak, I had met my father — so he was very, very happy. My father is someone who doesn’t express his emotions very quickly, but I could see happiness on his face.”
“When I spoke to him on the phone for the first time after winning the World Cup, he said, ‘Haan bhai, champion!’ I felt extremely good to hear that,” said Shafali in an exclusive conversation with IANS, facilitated by JSW Sports, on Saturday.
Her welcome at home in Rohtak brought out a lot of fanfare, and Shafali said that people addressing her as World Champion, as well as thanking her and the team for winning the World Cup, has been music to her ears.
“Yes, definitely, they are calling me the World Champion. When I went to Rohtak, everyone welcomed me with a lot of love, which was very good. Then it felt to me that we had really won the World Cup because the whole of Rohtak had come, so thanks to all of them for coming.”
“These days have been going very well for me as I am getting a lot of recognition and getting to hear a lot of good things. The most unique thing is that people are saying, ‘Thanks for making India proud. ’”
“As a player or a sports person, we play to make our country proud, and we were able to do that, so I am feeling very happy about it. We are getting so much confidence, love, and we feel so blessed for this,” she said.
Shafali’s arc of not being in the main squad to entering the Indian team for the World Cup knockouts in Navi Mumbai, while being in Surat for the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy games due to Pratika Rawal’s freak ankle injury, and then being at the centre of the win in the title clash, reads like sporting folklore.
Left out of the ODI team due to indifferent form, Shafali took the path of working on her game in domestic competitions in the last 12 months, where she finally found the groove of playing the 50-over format. When the ODI recall came, it arrived not with fanfare but with the perform or perish scenario at cricket’s grandest stage.
Though she made only ten runs in the semifinal win over Australia, Shafali’s mature mindset helped her plan better for the challenge against South Africa in the final. The result was Shafali hitting a blistering 87 off 78 balls and claiming two crucial wickets, including that of the dangerous Marizanne Kapp.
“Yes, before the final, I had two or three things planned for the final. I also had a plan in my mind that this is such a big stage, and if one of my plans doesn’t work, then I have to keep the other one aligned. So all my plans were getting executed well, and I am so happy about that. I played such a good innings and we won the World Cup. So I am so happy and very grateful for that.”
“For the last year, I was not in the ODI team, but at that time, I kept everything aside and worked on my mind, body, and on my cricketing shots. As you could see, I was playing more along the ground in the final because of the rain coming in; the wicket was not good for batting.”
“So, the last year, where I worked on myself, I was able to use those lessons on that day. So I felt very good that everything I kept aside for a year and worked on myself — I am so happy that it became a memorable and very blessed day for me. I performed well for the team, and I am so happy with that,” said Shafali.
More than the half-century that was her first fifty in ODIs since 2022, it was her immediate impact with the ball that rattled South Africa. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s instinctive decision to hand her the ball proved to be an inspired move, as the move left the Proteas unsettled and shifted momentum firmly in India’s favour.
“I would tell Harman di before every match that I am ready to bowl and just give me the ball anytime. I keep bowling in domestic games, and that’s why I have a little confidence in my bowling.”
“We knew that it was such a crucial partnership and had been going on for a long time. When I was brought in to bowl, I thought that I had to get a breakthrough from here, no matter how it comes. When that breakthrough came in my first over, I felt very good.”
“After that, I thought that I had to get Kapp out, too, because we all knew what things she could change. So it was in my mind that even if I don’t get a wicket, I have to try to make her play more dot balls. So those things were executed well, and it felt very good,” recalled Shafali.
When Harmanpreet took that catch of Nadine de Klerk to seal India’s win, Shafali ran on the field in jubilant fashion. “Actually, I had cramps in my calf, so I went out of the field for the last 5-6 overs. When she took that catch, I kept everything aside and ran on the field. I enjoyed that moment, just like the whole team did.”
After the World Cup win, Shafali would insist that God had sent her to do something special, and having done that, she felt that intuition proved to be spot on. “Absolutely. When I got the Player of the Match award in my hand, I first thanked God in my mind because without him, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I was doing. So yes, I definitely felt that God had sent me to do something and that he chose me for this, and I am very happy about it.”
Three years ago, as captain, Shafali lifted the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, marking India’s maiden world title in women’s cricket. But the triumph on November 2 at DY Patil in Navi Mumbai, which became witness to India’s first major silverware in women’s cricket, carries a different weight altogether.
Ask Shafali about her belief in destiny, divine intervention, and whether this World Cup triumph will prove to be the watershed moment Indian women’s cricket has long awaited, and the conviction in her voice leaves no room for doubt.
“When we won the World Cup, look, everything happened because of God. The entire team has a belief in God, as does the whole of India. When we won the World Cup, it was not just the victory of our whole team – it was the victory of women’s cricket. Hopefully, this will lead to a different change in women’s cricket, and we are very excited to see that.”
For women’s cricket in India, the night of November 2, 2025, represented years of investment, planning, and heartbreaks, which finally resulted in a historic ODI World Cup triumph. For Shafali, the victory was more than a career milestone – it was the fulfilment of producing her best on the grandest stage after a surprise recall, and the quiet comfort of knowing her father, Sanjeev, in Rohtak was beaming with happiness on his face.
–IANS
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