Sushma Verma (Cricketer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sushma Verma

• Sushma Verma is an Indian cricketer who represents the Indian women’s national cricket team in international cricket tournaments. A wicketkeeper & Batsman, Sushma was signed by the Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 lakhs during the auctions of the inaugural Women’s Premier League in February 2023.

• Verma grew up in a family of teachers. Her grandfather was a teacher. Her father is also a retired teacher.

• Despite her father’s wish to educate Sushma at a nearby school in her hometown, Sushma attended Portmore Government Model School in Shimla, which was far away from her home.

• As a child, Sushma played multiple sports like volleyball, handball, badminton, and cricket. In an interview, while sharing an incident from her school days, Sushma said,
  

  In my school days, we used to get refreshments at 6 PM after playing games. But my PT teacher and volleyball coach knew that I won’t come and would be playing cricket. We didn’t have cricket bats or balls, rather I used badminton rackets and asked the other person to shoot in the shuttle. I only wanted to swing and that used to give me happiness.”

• When her family came to know about Sushma’s passion for cricket, they enrolled her at a cricket academy in Shimla. In 2009, she was a student of the first batch of the Indian residential academy in Himachal Pradesh.

  

• She plays for Himachal Pradesh Women, Railways Women’s cricket team, India Women Green, and India Women Blue at the domestic level.

• In 2011, she was the captain of the Himachal Pradesh Women U-19 team that played in the finals of the Under-19 All-India Women’s Tournament.

• As there were less opportunities for her while playing for Himachal Pradesh, Sushma Verma soon began playing cricket for the Railways Women’s cricket team. She represented the north zone at the zonal level cricket.

• On 5 April 2013, Sushma played her first international T20 match against Bangladesh Women in Vadodara, Gujarat. Verma became the first cricketer (male or female) from Himachal Pradesh to represent India in international cricket.

• Sushma played her first international Test match for Indian women against South Africa Women in Mysore on 16 November 2014.

  

• Eight days later, she played her first One Day International against South Africa Women in Bengaluru.

• In 2017, Verma represented the Indian women squad that reached the finals of the Women’s Cricket World Cup. India lost to England by nine runs in the last game. Sushma made 15 dismissals during the tournament.

• Following her return to India after the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup, the then-chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh offered her the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police.
  

  

  She was also rewarded with a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs.

  

• In the same year, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association named a pavilion after her name at the Gumma Stadium in Shimla.

• She was the second-highest run scorer in the senior T20 competition at domestic level 2019 and was subsequently, named in the Indian women’s squad for West Indies tour.

• During the 2019 Women’s T20 Challenge, Sushma Verma played for IPL Velocity.

• Sushma Verma was the third-highest run scorer in the 2022 Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, scoring 237 runs in seven innings with an average of 79 and a strike rate of 105.80.

• She also represents India B Women, India D Women, and India Board President’s Women XI at the international level.

• In her spare time, Sushma loves to do cycling and play golf.

• A fitness enthusiast, Sushma never misses a day at gym.

  

• She has promoted several brands like Garnier and Fast&Up on her Instagram account.

  

• Sushma considered Adam Gilchrist her inspiration in her teenage.

• She is an avid animal lover and has a pet dog named Coco.

  

• In an interview, Sushma revealed that she enjoyed playing cricket since childhood, however, had no knowledge about the game until she started playing professionally. She said,
  

  I didn’t know anything about cricket. I didn’t know the name of anyone, I didn’t even know about the existence of an Indian team. I had no knowledge until I started playing the game professionally.”

• In an interview, Sushma disclosed that she encountered a ghostly experience at a team hotel during the 2017 Women’s World Cup. Talking about the incident, Sushma said that when she returned to her room after playing a match, she directly went to her bed and slept. In the middle of her sleep, Sushma felt that someone was pulling her and when she tried to turn around and get up, she felt as if someone was holding her from behind. After much trying, when she woke up from her sleep, Sushma called her teammate Harman and described her the whole incident. Harman, however, found her story funny and laughed at her. Later, when the team management came to know about the incident, they started making fun of Sushma.

• In an interview, Shushma disclosed that her grandfather was a big follower of the sport (cricket) and used to isten to the radio commentary of cricket when Sushma was in class 3 or 4. Although he never played the game, he was aware of even the minute delails about cricket. She further said that he was so much into the game that he memorised the jersey numbers of many popular cricketers of his time. Listening to the commentary with her grandfather also developed her interest in the sport.