In early 2016, when the Indian men's and women's cricket teams were in Australia at the same time, Sushma Verma met Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "I am also a wicketkeeper," was how she introduced herself to him. The former India captain replied: "good, good, best wishes".
The wishes seem to be working.
The 24-year-old has come a long way with her flashy stumpings and smart glovework, considering that she started playing cricket only seven years ago. The tiny wicketkeeper finished with the most dismissals behind the stumps in the ICC Women's World Cup (WWC) that ended last month.
But not many recognised her feat of 15 dismissals in the WWC - 7 catches and 8 stumpings.
"You are the first person to acknowledge that I ended the World Cup with most dismissals," Verma told this journalist at the press conference in Mumbai held after the team's arrival late last month following their runners-up finish.
While the spotlight was on her other high-profile team-mates like Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jhulan Goswami, Sushma was happy to be in one corner, having a quiet word with either a team-mate or fielding coach Biju George.
Yet, she isn't bothered by the lack of attention on her.
"I talk to very less people. My friends' circle comprises three or four people, and I spend my time with them," Sushma tells DNA in her leisure time, after having been with family members and attending to felicitation functions in her home state of Himachal Pradesh. She is also not the one to watch movies or TV. Instead, she loves to play snooker or indulge in photography.
Sushma does not fault people's lack of knowledge, either.
"It is OK," she says with a smile. "I am aware of what I have done, what I am doing and what I have to do. It is only now that people have started to follow women's cricket with interest."
Sushma, who has accepted the HP government's recent offer to be the deputy superintendent of police, is very well aware that wicket keeping is a thankless job.
"If you keep well for 49 overs and miss a catch or a stumping in the 50th, nobody will remember the 49 overs of good work. I have tuned my mind to the extent that I (as a wicket keeper) will not get appreciation, that I am a contributor who gets less credit, but still have to do my job. We are not playing to entertain the public. We play because we like to play and are passionate about it," Sushma says.
The wishes seem to be working.
The 24-year-old has come a long way with her flashy stumpings and smart glovework, considering that she started playing cricket only seven years ago. The tiny wicketkeeper finished with the most dismissals behind the stumps in the ICC Women's World Cup (WWC) that ended last month.
But not many recognised her feat of 15 dismissals in the WWC - 7 catches and 8 stumpings.
"You are the first person to acknowledge that I ended the World Cup with most dismissals," Verma told this journalist at the press conference in Mumbai held after the team's arrival late last month following their runners-up finish.
While the spotlight was on her other high-profile team-mates like Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jhulan Goswami, Sushma was happy to be in one corner, having a quiet word with either a team-mate or fielding coach Biju George.
Yet, she isn't bothered by the lack of attention on her.
"I talk to very less people. My friends' circle comprises three or four people, and I spend my time with them," Sushma tells DNA in her leisure time, after having been with family members and attending to felicitation functions in her home state of Himachal Pradesh. She is also not the one to watch movies or TV. Instead, she loves to play snooker or indulge in photography.
Sushma does not fault people's lack of knowledge, either.
"It is OK," she says with a smile. "I am aware of what I have done, what I am doing and what I have to do. It is only now that people have started to follow women's cricket with interest."
Sushma, who has accepted the HP government's recent offer to be the deputy superintendent of police, is very well aware that wicket keeping is a thankless job.
"If you keep well for 49 overs and miss a catch or a stumping in the 50th, nobody will remember the 49 overs of good work. I have tuned my mind to the extent that I (as a wicket keeper) will not get appreciation, that I am a contributor who gets less credit, but still have to do my job. We are not playing to entertain the public. We play because we like to play and are passionate about it," Sushma says.