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God's Plan: Shafali Verma became India Women's divine intervention in historic World Cup final

Akshita Patel

How Shafali Verma become India's chosen one [Source: AFP Photos]How Shafali Verma become India's chosen one [Source: AFP Photos]

Sometimes, sport has a way of writing scripts that no storyteller could imagine. In a tournament where every move is planned, and every team depends on strategy and preparation, destiny found its own way to take centre stage. 

For the India Women cricket team, that destiny came in the form of Shafali Verma, a cricketer who wasn’t even supposed to be there yet ended up being the face of a historic night.

Shafali Verma - The girl who wasn’t meant to be there

Just weeks ago, Shafali Verma was dropped from India’s ICC World Cup 2025 squad. She had been told to wait for her turn as others, like the in-form Pratika Rawal, took the spotlight. 

It wasn’t the first time Shafali had faced disappointment. Her journey has always been about extremes, such as fiery brilliance one day and frustration the next. 

And so, when she was left out of the World Cup squad, it felt like one more closed door in a young career that had seen both fame and doubt.

But fate, as they say, had other plans. When Pratika suffered an untimely ankle injury before the semi-final against Australia, the selectors made a call, and Shafali packed her kit from Surat, where she was playing in the Senior Women’s T20 tournament, and joined the team. 

Her response before the game was telling: “God has sent me here to do something good.” That sentence, in hindsight, feels prophetic.

Not luck, but destiny

Shafali Verma didn’t make much of an impact in the semi-final, as she scored just 10 runs before being dismissed early. Yet, even then, her energy around the group was visible. 

She was training longer, bowling in the nets, and readying herself for a moment she didn’t even know was coming. That moment arrived in the final. 

Under the Navi Mumbai skies, with millions watching, Shafali Verma produced a performance that made the world stop and take notice. Her 87 with the bat was a mix of raw power and composure, which was a mature knock from someone who had often been labelled reckless. 

She didn’t just hit boundaries but anchored the innings, rotated strike, and set the tone for India’s 298-run total.

When Harmanpreet Kaur trusted, heaven answered

But it wasn’t her batting alone that turned the match. It was Harmanpreet Kaur’s gut feeling that truly changed everything. 

When South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus were building a dangerous partnership, the Indian captain tossed the ball to Shafali Verma.

It was a gamble after all, as she had bowled only a handful of overs in 30 ODIs before this. But cricket gods seemed to be scripting their own version of justice that night.

Shafali struck not once but twice, breaking the partnership and triggering a collapse. Her off-spin suddenly looked like magic, and the belief she carried that she was “sent to do something good” seemed real. 

India went on to win, lifting the first-ever World Cup, and Shafali Verma was rightly named Player of the Match for her all-round brilliance.

Shafali Verma answered the call of destiny in the best way possible 

It's hard not to see divine design in how it all unfolded. A player who dropped out weeks earlier returned as an unexpected saviour. 

A captain trusted her instinct. A team that had seen heartbreaks finally tasted glory.

When the dust settles and Shafali Verma looks back at this night, she might just get that “God’s Plan” tattoo that has been joked about, because, truly, this victory felt written by something greater than chance.