Shafali Verma - A redemption story waiting to unfold on the biggest stage

Players returning from injury have a unique way of changing the rhythm of a training session, their very presence adding a layer of curiosity to the proceedings. For India and Australia, ahead of their high-stakes World Cup 2025 semifinal in Navi Mumbai, that player was their respective first-choice 'keeper - Richa Ghosh and Alyssa Healy - in Tuesday's training.

Her quiet, almost uncharacteristically reclusive, warm-up was over-analysed. She hardly indulged in any friendly banter during the footie game. She keenly listened to Amol Muzumdar, and later Smriti Mandhana, addressing the huddle in the batters' meeting by the pitch. Her mismatched kit bore a stamp of the late addition to the squad - a call that only came on Monday afternoon. Her spirited performance in the fielding drills seemed a renewed statement of intent. In her 50-minute stint in the nets, she showed admirable restraint in choosing carefully when to dominate and when to defend. A short-ball specific stint was also negotiated well, but none of the handful reverse-sweeps she attempted were utterly convincing.

But then came out the lofted shots at range hitting towards the end of the session, the best indicator yet of Verma beginning to find her feet again in a setup that had discarded her less than a year ago.

That the destructive opener had an underwhelming ICC Women's ODI Championship is an understatement. A mere 277 runs in 14 innings at an average of 21.30, with a solitary 50-plus score against Sri Lanka, at a time when her fellow opening partner was redefining career peaks, became too jarring to ignore. Exactly a year ago, Verma played her last ODI not knowing at the time, perhaps, the selectors' patience was wearing thin.

With under 12 months to go for the home World Cup 2025, India began their earnest attempt to find a replacement. India had Smriti Mandhana unleashing her explosive best again, consistently, and therefore the demands had slightly shifted. The roll of the dice landed on the technically-sound Pratika Rawal. She matched Mandhana's consistency, even if not at the same strike-rate, and was rewarded with a World Cup berth in under a year of representing India.

Verma, meanwhile, went back to the metaphorical drawing board i.e. domestic cricket. In the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy 2024-25, she led Haryana to the quarterfinals - leading from the front with a chart-topping 527 runs in just seven innings at 75.29, and a strike-rate of 152.31 that was unparalleled among the competition's top -100 scorers. In the knockouts against the eventual finalists Bengal, she unleashed a 115-ball 197 - laced with 22 fours and 11 sixes - at a strike-rate of 171.30. Incidentally, it was a day after the opening ODI against West Indies - a second successive national assignment, and first at home - she was missing since being axed.

Ireland came home next, and regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was rested with a host of fringe players given the opportunity. Verma's name still remained off the 15-member shortlist. Cricbuzz understands, even though the captain vouched for her in the selection meeting, the remaining fractions of the team management had remained unmoved.

When this was unfolding behind closed doors, Verma was on the field leading Team A at the Senior Women's One-Day Challengers Trophy in Chennai. She again stamped her superiority in the competition meant for the cream of the national talent, topping the charts with a tally of 414 runs when the second-best was 217. Her scores read: 91, 95, 87, 115 and a 21-ball 26 in the final, at an average of 82.8 and strike-rate of 145.26 that was again unmatched by anyone who scored at least 50 runs in the tournament.

When it was her chance to test that dominant streak against the world's best, albeit in a different white-ball format, Verma was Delhi Capitals' leading run-getter - and fourth overall - with 304 runs at 152.76 in their third successive runners-up finish. Her tally of 16 sixes was only bettered by Ash Gardner (18).

She earned her T20I comeback for the five-match series against England, but one-day return remained elusive even for the tri-series in Sri Lanka that preceded the white-ball tour of the UK. Since the T20Is were prior to the ODIs, Verma opened in the 50-overs practice game on that tour before being sent with the A side on the multi-format tour of Australia where she managed 36, 4 and 52 in three games.

Ahead of the World Cup squad announcement, the standoff between the leadership pair and the rest continued in the selection meeting, leaving Verma in the lurch again. Yastika Bhatia was preferred to double up as a back-up 'keeper too. A second snub in quick succession happened when the left-hander sustained an ACL tear at a preparatory camp and Assam's uncapped-in-ODIs wicketkeeper Uma Chetry was called-up instead.

Verma found herself in the A squad again, listed to play a one-off official World Cup warm-up against New Zealand at the CoE, the victory in which was set up by her 51-ball 70 up top against a quality attack.

From Bengaluru, the Indian team went its own way and Verma, hers. The domestic grind began again, with T20s, and the opener was at her ruthless best in the Sr. Women's T20 Trophy. The leading run-getter tallied 341 runs in seven innings - including a century and two fifties - at an average of 56.83 and a scarcely believable strike-rate of 182.35 in seven innings.

An anxious wait for rain to abate awaited her at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat on Monday, but destiny, as it often does, chose its moment. India and Verma's paths converged again in Navi Mumbai where the team has everything at stake and the recalled opener, maybe, has nothing more left to lose.

It's a backdoor entry, an opportunity borne off India's misfortune and Verma's timely slice of luck - with the team on the cusp of their most significant game yet, perhaps, in the last decade. It's the kind of comeback that could feel both validating and unsettling at the same time. It's a delicate balance between managing her own excitement and expectations, and those of her team and the nation. Which is where the team's clear messaging on what role is expected of her can help free up the mind of the player India often termed its "X factor".

"Everybody was very welcoming when I joined the team, and that felt very good," Verma said ahead of the big-ticket clash. "Everybody I spoke to really boosted [my confidence] and that's a very good thing for me. Everyone I spoke to, including the coach, captain and Smriti di, they told me to play my natural game - no fret. Play the way you usually do, and just never panic. So yeah, since I'm getting so much freedom I will try to respect the good balls and whatever is in my range, I will definitely hit it. I've received a very good welcome, hopefully I'll do well if given the chance."

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