[4] In June 2021, she became the youngest player, male or female, to represent India in all three formats of international cricket.
[7] In late 2013, Verma went, for the first time, to Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lahli, a small town near Rohtak, with her father to see Mumbai playing a Ranji Trophy group fixture against Haryana.
"Nau saal ke umar mein saare bachche ek jaise hi lagte hain" ("At the age of nine, all children look the same"), he continued.
[10] In 2020, Verma's first coach, Ashwani Kumar, a former Haryana first class cricketer who runs the academy, recounted: "When she came to me first as a little kid ...
Then she started training with the girls four years elder to her and in six months’ times, she was practising with the U-14 boys.
"[11]Despite her successes at training, Verma had to endure mocking and taunts from neighbours and relatives about her involvement in a game they considered to be for boys.
"[10]A solution presented itself when Verma began her secondary education in Class V at St. Paul School, Rohtak.
[31] In July 2022, she was named in India's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
She was named in the India squad for the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup[34] and their home ODI series against New Zealand in October 2024.
Mithali had scored 214 off 407 balls during the drawn second Test against England at Taunton in August 2002.Throughout her aggressive innings, she struck an impressive 23 fours and eight sixes.
In mid 2024, Raj told Lavanya Lakshmi Narayanan, writing for Sportstar: "She was a bit one-dimensional back then.
"[37]In the same article, Narayanan observed: "Starting out, Shafali was a twitchy teenager at the crease, constantly moving around in trying to find a way to dispatch the ball out of the ground.
"[37]Early in her international career, Verma was noted to have "big-hitting prowess", a "fearless approach" and a "love" of 'playing in the V'[11] (ie hitting to between long-off and long-on).
"[8] According to Narayanan, she still had, as of 2024, "... the image of a trigger-happy six hitter ... [with a] quintessential Haryanvi swagger ... [and an] unfiltered quality.
She has learnt to expand her striking arc, worked on running between the wickets and a nagging weakness for the short ball, and even her hairstyles.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, her coach Ashwini Kumar set up nets and a bowling machine for her in his backyard, so that she could have supplementary batting training.
Additionally, in early 2021, she attended a training camp with the Haryana men's team, at which she was given assistance with her back-foot game, and in dealing with bouncers.
[39] In March 2024, after leading her Capitals team to victory with a half century in a WPL match, Verma commented that she had changed a few things and felt more stable at the crease.
Having previously struggled with consistency, she had learned from her Capitals captain, Meg Lanning, to score better, build her innings better, and bat longer.