Shafali to captain India in U19 Women’s T20 World Cup

Right-handed opener Shafali Verma on Monday was named as the captain of Indian team for the inaugural edition of the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup and for the upcoming bilateral away T20 series against South Africa U19 side.Apart from Shafali, wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh has also been included in the squad selected by the All-India Women’s Selection Committee, with Shweta Sehrawat to be the vice-captain.Shafali and Richa’s selections for the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup are surprising considering the duo were not in India’s U19 team preparations through the quadrangular series featuring Sri Lanka and West Indies U19 teams in Visakhapatnam as well as in the ongoing five-match series against New Zealand development side in Mumbai.Shafali and Richa will join the India U19 side after playing in senior women’s upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia, starting from December 9 in Mumbai. In 2019, at the age of 15, Shafali became the youngest cricketer to play in a Women’s T20I match for India by debuting in the home series against South Africa.Shafali, now 18, has played 21 ODIs and 46 T20Is for India senior women’s team, making 531 and 1091 runs respectively apart from 242 runs from two Test appearances. She was also ranked number one T20I batter ahead of Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020.