Sushma Verma gains accolades for her timely knock against Pakistan

Sushma Verma for long has been India’s first choice wicketkeeper. While her glove work has been much appreciated, she hadn’t quite stepped up when it came to her batting. She felt there weren’t much opportunities provided to her to bat at the top of the order.

On Sunday, as arch rivals India and Pakistan locked horns for the battle on the field, Sushma Verma delivered a sensational knock batting at No.7. With India lurking at 111/6, her innings of 33(35) took India to 169/9.

The innings came in a crucial encounter as India went on to defeat Pakistan by 95 runs, to secure their third win on the trot in the Women’s World Cup. “Sushma was batting at No 9 and 10. She was feeling unused. The fact that she was not able to show her batting skills shook her confidence. At one stage, it also reflected on her keeping. Then we planned her training, which included batting in the nets for long hours. By end of it, she was hungry to go to England and do well with the bat. Against Pakistan, Sushma played like a champion and bailed out the team,” told her coach Pawan Sen, who has trained Sushma since her early days at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Residential Academy in Dharamsala.

“Her achievement is an inspiration for other aspiring women cricketers of our region. Due to her, so many from remote areas have taken up the game. I hope she is moved up the batting order after her knock against Pakistan. It’s time to make India proud,” said Sen.

Skipper Mithali Raj clarified the promotion tactic, “At that point in time, when we were losing wickets, it was important to slow down a little, On a few occasions in domestic cricket, when our Central Zone side was in similar situation, she bailed us out. We expected her to play that role and she did until the 48th over. Those boundaries were also very crucial.”

She kept on singing praises for her counterpart, “Her partnership [with Jhulan] got us to 170. We were looking for 170 when we lost the top four. When you play such matches, it’s important to continue the momentum but not every day will the same batters will score runs, so I’m happy someone has stood up to get those runs. It’s important we got this opportunity to reflect on our batting order.”

Sushma Verma seemed quite relieved after the knock. “I’ve understood I will have minimum balls to face, I need to make maximum impact. Today, there was such an opportunity.”

The selfie expert

Sushma might seem quite determined on the field and even outside, she’s an entertainer. In fact she has varied interests in photography. Her teammate Harmanpreet Kaur told, “Sushma is our selfie expert. When she is around, we don’t take out our phones to click pictures or make videos. She captures the moments very well. Whether the team is travelling in a bus to the venue or taking celebratory pictures, Sushma is the girl,”

HPCA named a dressing room after her

With her being the first woman cricketer to play for India from Shimla, The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association has also named a dressing room after her in the Gumma Stadium in Shimla. She used to play volleyball and handball at school before making the switch to cricket.

She’s a big fan of Aussie great Adam Gilchrist and idolises him. As of now Sushma Verma might have sealed her position in the team. The second wicketkeeper in the team Nuzhat Parween would have to wait for her chances as of now. India play their next match on Wednesday against neighbours Sri Lanka.