Shafali Verma, now 17, is set to make her Women’s Big Bash League debut later this year with two-time champion Sydney Sixers. After a year of inactivity due to pandemic, 2021 is shaping up to be a busy year for Verma.
Verma will become the fourth Indian to feature in this league, after India T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Veda Krishnamurthy. She will join the likes of Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Marizanne Kapp at the Sixers.
Other than Verma, left-arm spinner Radha Yadav is also in talks with both Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. As per reports, She is likely to sign her contract in the near future.
Since Verma is still a minor, her father Sanjeev signed a letter of consent for her participation. Further, he also thanked both Haryana Cricket Association (HCA) and the BCCI for granting No-Objection Certificate to her daughter.
‘I would like to thank the BCCI and Haryana Cricket Association [HCA] for giving my daughter the permission and support to play in the WBBL. Without the guidance of the HCA, whatever Shafali is doing in her career wouldn’t have been possible,’ Sanjeev Verma told ESPNCricinfo.
Verma has also signed a deal with Birmingham Phoenix to play in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, scheduled to take place later this year. She replaced New Zealand’s Sophie Devine, who pulled out of the tournament owing to personal reasons. She will join Kaur, Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues in the tournament.
India’s Women will fly to England on 2 May for six limited-overs matches and a Test match. The five recruitments in The Hundred are likely to extend their stay after the series.