Melbourne (Australia) | Jagran Sports Desk: In a memorable moment, 16-year-old Shafali Verma on Sunday scripted history after she became the youngest player ever (female or male) to play a World Cup final across both 20 overs and 50 overs format.
Shafali, who is 16 years and 40 days, broke the record which was previously held by West Indies’ women’s cricketer Shaquana Quintyne when she played the ODI World Cup final in 2013 at the age of 17 years and 45 days.
The Women's T20 World Cup final is underway between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Earlier in the day, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.
Shafali has been in brilliant form in this World Cup and has lit up the tournament with her batting performance, registering 161 runs, with the highest being 47 against Sri Lanka. These efforts have allowed the youngster to reach the number one spot in the ICC Women's T20I batting rankings.
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Ahead of the finals, her mother Parveen Bala advised her to not think about personal milestones and should look to make the team win.
"I am confident that the team will come back with the trophy. Our entire family will watch the match together, we were confident that Shafali will make us proud. I would just tell Shafali to not think about personal milestones. She plays like Virender Sehwag and everyone in Rohtak now calls Shafali as women's Sehwag," Shafali's mother Parveen told reporters.
Talking about the World Cup finals between India and Australia, the Women in Blue entered the finals being the only undefeated side in the ongoing tournament.
It is the first time, that India has managed to reach the finals of the tournament, and the side would be playing in front of more than 80,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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On the other hand, Australia has won the T20 World Cup four times. They are the only team in the history of the tournament to reach the knock-out stages in every edition.
(With ANI inputs)
Posted By: Aalok Sensharma
