We have more skill, but we’re still learning mental toughness from overseas players: Shafali Verma

NEW DELHI: The glow on Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma’s faces is unmistakable. Still fresh from their World Cup-winning campaign last month, they are part of a women’s cricket team that no longer plays second fiddle to teams like Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand, which have for long been perceived as superior units.

At the TOI Ideas for India Summit on Monday, Shafali offered up a reminder that though India’s women’s cricketers may be physically inferior to these teams, they are usually more skilful. “The Indian team is the best, skill-wise. I can proudly say that. We can now match them physically too. But what we’re learning from them is that they are mentally very strong. When we compete with them, we try to pick their brains. You know how tough Australia made it for us, but we’ve started to beat them now too,” Shafali said.Deepti highlighted that playing in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) had helped them evolve faster. “After the WPL started, we shared dressing room with the best players in the world. We ate together and did a lot of other things together. It gave us confidence,” Deepti said. Shafali interjected. “I’ll give you an example. In my team at Delhi Capitals, we had someone like Meg Lanning. I kept following her and observed how she prepared and reacted to different situations.

I just wanted to see how they became mentally so strong,” Shafali remarked.“We got used to playing in front of big crowds during the WPL. So, when so many people turned up for the final, we didn’t have to worry about the pressure of playing in front of a big crowd,” Deepti pointed out.She also didn’t want to miss the opportunity to appreciate the contributions of the former players. The pain of losing the final in 2017 was difficult to overcome.

“This triumph also belongs to Mithali (Raj) di and Jhulan (Goswami) di. They have done a lot for India’s women’s cricket. We used to look up to them. We all dreamt of winning World Cups. In 2017, it didn’t happen. Playing cricket as a girl was tough and I’m glad if I could become an inspiration for younger girls,” Deepti said.Women’s cricket has come a long way in India. The sport is seeing a remarkable spike in popularity.

Yet, the number of matches the Indian women’s team plays is distinctly less than the men’s team. Shafali highlighted the need to play more matches. “We will really appreciate if we get to play more matches. Also, we want to play a lot more Test matches. Personally, I enjoy batting in a Test match, without the pressure of the run rate.

If we get more games to play, we will get better faster,” the 21-year-old said.Actor Saiyami Kher, an iron man triathlete and a broadcaster, said it was important that women cricketers continued contributing to the sport even after retirement. “I was speaking to my friends in broadcasting. It is important that there should be more former cricketers in commentary panels. I’d also like to see more women cricketers getting into administration and coaching,” Saiyami said.