The Hundred 2021: Indian explosive opener Shafali Verma set to play in the tournament
Verma joins Birmingham Phoenix becoming the fifth Indian player after Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Jemimah Rodrigues.
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Young Indian women’s cricketer Shafali Verma is all set to become the fifth player from her national team to play in the inaugural edition of The Hundred in England. She joins the likes of captain Harmanpreet Kaur, deputy Smriti Mandhana, all-rounder Deepti Sharma and batter Jemimah Rodrigues.
Verma, who is no. 1 in the ICC Women’s T20I batting rankings, has signed up for the Birmingham Phoenix, a team led by Sophie Devine. The 17-year-old player from Haryana has taken giant strides in the T20I format ever since she made her debut in 2019. So far, in 22 T20Is, she has scored 617 runs at an average of 29.38 and a strike rate of 148.31.
According to recent development, it was confirmed that Verma was the fifth women cricketer to have received a No Objection Certification (NOC) from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The source was quoted by Sportstar saying, “It is delightful news not just for Shafali but for Indian women’s cricket that there will be five Indian players in the inaugural edition of The Hundred.”
Indian women’s team to tour England in June-July 2021
Kaur, Sharma, Mandhana, and Rodrigues previously played in the now-defunct Women’s Cricket Super League in England. The tournament was replaced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with a new format – The Hundred. Kaur will play for the Manchester Originals while Mandhana will represent Southern Brave. Among others, Rodrigues has been named in Northern Supercharge while Deepti Sharma has been signed by London Spirit.
The men’s and women’s tournament of The Hundred will happen simultaneously starting on July 21. The Indian women’s team is scheduled to tour England for a one-off Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is. The Test match will be played from June 16 while the white-ball leg will be played between June 27 and July 15.
The main reason why five Indian cricketers were signed so late is that there is a chance that the original players signed up by the franchisees for the tournament could miss out due to travel restrictions. Each of the teams is allowed three overseas signings. There are already 11 Australian, 5 South Africans, and two each from New Zealand and West Indies, who have signed up for the Hundred.
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