Is it time to look beyond Shafali Verma, the ODI opener?

Shafali Verma’s rise to the top of India’s batting order was almost seamless. Her hard-hitting capabilities and manic scoring rates charmed a side that has lacked the same pomp and charisma of its larger opponents in Australia and England.

However, three years since her ODI debut, the 20-year-old has featured in a World Cup and played 25 games as an opener but has yet to translate herself into a bonafide match-winner.

India had run out of patience with Shafali’s lack of runs during the ODIs against Australia in December 2023 but the right-hander recently returned to the top of the order against South Africa with Yastika Bhatia out injured. She failed to fire in the first two ODIs of the three-match series in Bengaluru, scoring 27 runs as her senior partner Smriti Mandhana notched up two centuries in succession.

ODI openers since Shafali’s debut

Shafali’s return has come at the expense of India taking stock of its backup options with an ODI World Cup set to be played next year at home.

Since her ODI debut in June 2021, Shafali has totalled only 563 runs in 25 innings at a 23.45 average. They are the second-worst returns among all openers who have fared in at least 20 innings in the period.

Indian batter Shafali Verma plays a shot during the second women’s ODI cricket match between India and South Africa at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

While the Haryana batter has been among the leading run-getters in T20Is since her debut five years ago, Shafali has struggled to come to terms with the pace and demands of the longer format. Shafali’s 81.24 strike rate is not eye-popping in ODIs either, with five batters aggregating more runs at a higher strike rate. It includes her teammate Mandhana, who has amassed more than double the runs (1323), with three centuries and eight fifties at a healthy 84.00 strike rate in the period.

India’s ODI openers since Shafali’s debut

Far away from her T20I avatar, Shafali has also not distinguished herself as a rated six-hitter in the format, taking over 115 deliveries per maximum. Shafali has also struggled to enter double digits on 10 occasions, making up 40 per cent of her career across three years.

As is often the case with India (men and women), Shafali has been another player who has received backing in a format based on their run in another with a nominal yield.

What will matter to India over the next three months, though, would be Shafali’s T20I form ahead of the World Cup in October. Bangladesh hosts the slowest venues among full-member nations in women’s T20Is (5.69), and Shafali’s Powerplay bursts could be useful on such surfaces.

Since her T20I debut in September 2019, Shafali has been among the consistent faces in the shortest format, amassing 1,799 runs, only behind Australia’s Beth Mooney (1999) and Mandhana (1924). She also ranks third in terms of strike rate, clocking 129.90 while smashing a maximum every 23 balls. These are the qualities that continue to entice the selectors even as it surprisingly stalls in her ODI batting.

With the Indian team scoring more runs on average per over (5.02) in home ODIs since 2020 compared to their overall record (3.94), a batter in Shafali’s mould will always be a tempting pick with the 2025 World Cup in the offing.

However, it may also be imperative that India demand more from Shafali at the earliest to maintain healthy competition for spots in the best interest of the national side.