India batter Shafali Verma has revealed that she did not disclose the news of getting dropped from the Indian team to her father since he had a heart attack just two days before the team was named. She was dropped from the teams for the tour Down Under in November after a poor run of form in the preceding Women's T20 World Cup and the home series against New Zealand.

The Indian women's team's selection committee had announced the squad for the tour to Australia in mid-November, but in a setback, Shafali, who has been a regular in the Indian team across formats, did not find a mention.

Shafali hid the news of her exclusion from the Indian team from her father, Sanjeev Verma, who was hospitalised and informed him only a week later.

“It’s not easy to get over it. I didn’t want to reveal it because my father had a heart attack about two days before I got dropped from the team. I hid the news from him till he got better. He was in the hospital. I told him a week later," Shafali said while speaking to The Indian Express.

After hearing the news, instead of getting disappointed, Sanjeev made it a point to help Shafali get back to the national team.

“Father knows everything, sometimes as kids, even when we forget our strengths they don’t forget. He reminded me of the workouts and drills from my childhood and helped me to do the same. When I started, we had these knocking drills, where I play on-drive, straight drive and that’s what I worked on," Shafali said.

The star India batter led India A to the finals of the Senior Women's One-Day Challenger Trophy. She scored a quickfire 26 in the summit showdown against Sneh Rana-led India C at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

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