India have omitted Shafali Varma from the Women’s World Cup squad, announced on Tuesday.
The hosts, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, will begin their campaign on September 30 against Sri Lanka. Smriti Mandhana will be the vice-captain of the 15-member squad that also has Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sneh Rana and Renuka Singh.
The big absence, however, is that of Shafali, who is yet to play an ODI since October 2024.
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Why has Shafali Varma been omitted from the Women’s World Cup squad?
Shafali’s ODI career began with promise but has since struggled to gather momentum. After impressing in the T20 World Cup in 2020 as a 16-year-old, she made her ODI debut in June 2021 in England, scoring 15 from 14 balls. Within her first nine innings, she had already registered two fifties, one in Australia and the other in New Zealand. She has a total of four ODI fifties, with the other two also coming overseas, a 53 against Sri Lanka in Christchurch during the 2022 World Cup and a knock of 71* in Pallekele.
That initial year saw Shafali score 522 runs in 18 innings at an average of 30.70, with four fifties to her name. However, the progress halted soon after. Over her next 11 ODIs, she managed only 122 runs at 11.09, with a highest score of 33. In the same period, her opening partner, Smriti Mandhana, accumulated 798 runs at an average of 57.
The drop has also been reflected in Shafali’s strike rate. Known for her ability to score quickly, her strike rate of 82.44 in 2024 was lower than her 2022 figure of 88.66. Since September 2022, she failed to cross 15 in eight innings, with her last forty-plus knock in the format being in July 2022.
Speaking on the decision to look past her for the event, chairperson of selectors Neetu David said: “We don't want to make a lot of changes to the team. Shafali is doing well. If we want her to have a long career, we need to ensure slow and steady progress for her."
Shafali has been replaced by Pratika Rawal as opener for the tournament. Rawal, who made her debut in December 2024, has played 14 games, making 703 runs with one fifty and five hundreds. She is also the fastest to 500 runs in the format, reaching the milestone in just eight innings.
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