Shafali Verma

India women had long felt the need for a batter with raw power, one who could take the game on from the start and trade accumulation for aggression. Shafali Verma, who emerged as a 15-year-old power hitter in the Women's T20 Challenge in 2019, fit the bill perfectly.

When her India call-up came later that year, she became the youngest woman to play a T20I for the country. In November that year in the West Indies, she became the youngest India batter to make an international fifty, and a few months later was a key figure in India featuring in the final of the T20 World Cup 2020, a tournament she headed into as the ICC's No. 1-ranked T20I batter.

In 2021, in her first Test, against England, she fell four runs short of a century on debut. She more than made amends in 2024 when she turned her first hundred into a double, her 205 coming in 197 balls in India's big win against South Africa.

In 2023, Verma captained India in the inaugural Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup, and brought home the trophy. A fortnight later she was signed for Rs 2 crore at the inaugural WPL auction by Delhi Capitals for whom she went on to score 252 runs that season as opener.

She had an unremarkable run in ODIs in 2024, which meant she was left out of the squad for the 2025 ODI World Cup. But when Pratika Rawal, for whom Verma had been dropped, was out injured just before the semi-final, Verma stepped into the breach and turned in a Player-of-the-Match performance in India's final against South Africa, scoring 87 runs and picking up two wickets.