Nasser Hussain Lauds Sensational Shafali Verma's All-Round Heroics After Women's World Cup Final: 'A Really Good Selection'

Shafali Verma had a dream outing in the Women's World Cup final as India defeated South Africa to lift their maiden title at DY Patil Stadium. Playing just her second match, Shafali rose to the occasion and smashed a brilliant 78-ball 87 to help India post a commendable 298 runs on the board.

Nasser Hussain Lauded Shafali Verma's Contribution

Shafali wasn't picked in the original squad for the Women's World Cup and was flown in after Pratika Rawal was ruled out of the tournament after twisting her ankle in the Bangladesh match. Shafali didn't impress against Australia in the semifinal, but went on to etch her name in history with a significant knock in the summit clash.

Former England captain Naseer Hussain hailed Shafali's impressive impact in the final.

As quoted by Sky Sports, he said, "She started [her career] in an incredible way. She burst on the scene, she was smashing everyone and she had this sort of care-free attitude that you do have as a youngster.

“Then she got found out a little bit - especially by the short ball - opening the batting. People went at her with the short ball and, in this format, she had to be left out.”

Naseer went on to praise Shafali's bowling prowess. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur trusted the player by handing her the ball, and she responded by picking up two prized wickets of Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp.

"Then Pratika Rawal had that injury and she came back in and I thought it was a bit of a gamble to actually pick her in a semi-final and then in a final, but she played brilliantly.

"She batted brilliantly and it was a bit of genius to bowl her as well. I don't know where that came from, but they bowled her and she was outstanding. A really good selection and really good for her to come back into it and play the way that she has."

Also Read: Amanjot Kaur Claims Best Fielder Medal After Team India's Remarkable Women's World Cup 2025 Triumph

BCCI Announced Staggering Prize Money For Women's Team

The victorious Indian team will receive a cash reward of INR 51 crore from the BCCI. Devajit Saikia, BCCI secretary, confirmed the development on Sunday night in an exclusive interview with Republic TV.

They will get a staggering $4.48 million (INR 39.55 crore) in prize money from the ICC for winning the World Cup. The prize money increased by 297% from the World Cup in 2022.

Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin Hails Deepti Sharma's Powerful Impact In Women's World Cup: 'I Need To Tell My Friend Ravindra Jadeja...'