India, Jan. 16 -- Sha-fa-li! Sha-fa-li! Sha-fa-li!

Imagine being 21, the youngest member of the India team, stepping out to bat at the Women's World Cup cricket finals in Navi Mumbai in November last year, and hearing the crowds chant your name. No pressure, right? To the 55,000 people watching Shafali Verma live, and the 185 million following the match on screens, it really seemed like it.

Verma, however, wasn't even supposed to be in this match. The selectors for the World Cup thought her form was inconsistent. She only got pencilled in, right before the semi-finals, to replace Pratika Rawal, who'd injured her ankle and knee. Weeks before the series, Verma had been journalling that her days of cricket were over. But on the pitch, she ...