Sushma Verma has always been passionate about photography. But ironically, when the 33-year-old wicketkeeper-batter broke one record after another earlier this month, not a single photographer was around to capture her feats.
Opening the innings for North Zone in the final of the Inter-Zonal multi-day trophy in Puducherry, Sushma scored 237 off 498 balls against West Zone. It was the second-highest individual score in women's first-class cricket, just five short of Kiran Baluch's world record of 242, set against West Indies in the 2004 Karachi Test.
This was only Sushma's 11th first-class match, and her previous highest score was 75. Remarkably, she was opening the innings in red-ball cricket for the first time. After West Zone posted 359, her marathon knock - laced with 30 fours and four sixes - powered North Zone to 484, giving them a 125-run lead. When the match ended in a draw, North Zone were crowned champions on the basis of their first-innings lead.
But Sushma was never supposed to open.
"The plan was, I would bat one down," she says. "In our first match, against North-East Zone, I came in at No. 6 and had to shepherd the tail. I think our coach, Dipti Dhyani di, realised I could be more useful up the order.
"Before the final, she made me bat against the new ball in the nets. I must have batted for 1-1.5 hours, facing just fast bowlers, and I did not get out even once."
Sushma entered the match fully prepared to bat at No. 3. However, when North Zone were fielding, Priya Punia, one of their designated openers, hurt her hand. The match referee didn't allow a like-for-like replacement under the BCCI's serious-injury-replacement rule, leaving Dhyani worried. But Sushma promptly put her hand up.
"It was not a big deal for me," she says, laughing. "What if an opener gets out first ball? So it was just a matter of one extra delivery."
The inter-zonal tournament is the only time India's women domestic cricketers play red-ball cricket. Sushma had prepared by playing practice games against Shimla U-14 boys. In the first of those games, she scored 79 off 116 balls.
Against West Zone, she made a cautious start, facing the new-ball pair of Sayali Satghare and Saima Thakor, both India players.
"It was a new experience for me," she says. "I had no idea how the new ball would behave on a 1.5-day-old pitch. Fortunately, there was not much help from the wicket and after facing about 50 balls, I started feeling at ease."
Luck was on her side too. Soon after reaching her fifty, she survived a stumping chance off a grubber. A little later, Poonam Khemnar palmed a flat hit over the long-on boundary. Then Vrushali Bhagat couldn't convert a chance despite putting in a dive at midwicket. All three opportunities came before Sushma had reached her hundred, which took a patient 285 balls.
She shared a 231-run stand for the second wicket with Ayushi Soni. After Soni fell for 109, Sushma began to dominate proceedings. She added 68 for the third wicket with Punia, who, batting at No. 4, made 10 off 84 balls. Then, with Shweta Sehrawat, she forged 82; Sehrawat's contribution was 18 off 108.
During that partnership, Sushma reached her double-century. Her second hundred came off just 159 deliveries, with 74 runs in boundaries. By the end of day three, she was batting on 212.
"The first 50 runs surprised me, in a good way, that I was guiding the team despite opening for the first time," she says. "After that, there was no nervousness. At the end of the second day, when I was on 65 not out, I spoke to my coach, Pawan Sen. He said I must score a hundred. I told him not just a hundred, I could sense a double-hundred."
Sushma had no idea of the records she was breaking or closing in on. Just before stumps on day three, she went past Mithali Raj's 210 not out against Karnataka, the highest score in Indian domestic cricket. The following morning she broke another Raj record: 214 against England, the highest by an India women's player in first-class cricket. But when she was one hit away from Baluch's mark, Thakor bowled her.
"In the whole innings, I lost focus on only two balls: the one I got out on and the one just before that. By then, the second new ball was 60-odd overs old and they had seven fielders on the boundary, so run-scoring wasn't easy. When I came to know how close I was to the world record, I was very disappointed."
One of the shots she played a lot during her innings was the sweep. It has been her go-to shot against spinners. But for two years she had shelved it completely.
It was the final of the 2017 ODI World Cup and India were chasing 229 against England. They were 191 for 4 in the 43rd over when Sushma walked in. Her partner, Veda Krishnamurthy, suggested she use the sweep against left-arm spinner Alex Hartley's leg-stump line. When Sushma attempted it, she ended up gloving the ball onto the stumps and was out for a two-ball duck.
India went on to lose by nine runs. After the match Sushma consoled her team-mates by saying their effort was equivalent to "winning a silver medal", but her own dismissal kept haunting her.
"I felt we lost the World Cup because of me," she says. "For the next two years, I didn't play a single sweep. Till this day, I have not watched the highlights of the final - I am scared it might traumatise me all over again."
A few months later she was dropped from the side. She made a couple of comebacks but they were short-lived. The catharsis finally came when India lifted the 2025 ODI World Cup, beating South Africa by 52 runs in the final in Mumbai. Sushma was part of the Hindi commentary team and was standing behind the on-air commentators when Harmanpreet Kaur caught Nadine de Klerk to seal the victory.
"I have no words to explain what I felt. It was as if I was holding something inside me for eight years and it got released that day. I didn't cry but, as they say, thand pai gayi." [it soothed my heart]
Sushma has been doing commentary on the side for a couple of years now. It has sharpened her game sense; she now pays closer attention to stats and match-ups while leading Himachal Pradesh. But it has been a double-edged sword. She feels being a part-time commentator also cost her selection in the 2024-25 inter-zonal one-day tournament because the selectors thought she was on her way out.
Determined to prove otherwise, she turned down commentary duties for the 2026 WPL. She posted on social media: "Yes, I have done commentary. Yes, I loved it. I see your messages. I feel the love. This season, I have chosen the grind on the field. Commentary will always be there. Right now, playing needs me more."
The decision paid off. In the domestic one-day tournament that followed, she scored 344 runs in six innings at an average of 344.00 and a strike rate of 87.53. She hit nine sixes - the third-most in the tournament, a reward for the work she has been putting into power-hitting.
"Till a couple of years ago, I would be worried if there were fielders on the boundary," she says. "Now I don't care how many there are because I can hit 70-75 metres easily."
Sushma last played for India in 2021. She was picked for the T20I tri-series in South Africa in 2023 but didn't get a game. Her WPL stint with Gujarat Giants in the inaugural season of that tournament wasn't fruitful either. She scored only 42 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 79.24. That has been her only WPL so far. So what keeps her motivated at this stage of her career?
"I started playing cricket at the age of 17. Still, I was lucky enough to play for India when there was very little support for women's cricket. Now everything is there. So why should I stop?
"Paras Dogra's story is another source of inspiration. It's not about playing for India every day. It's more about giving your best wherever you are playing.
"I have been with the Indian team, so I know what is needed at that level. I often think, if I get an India call tomorrow, am I prepared for that? It should not be that my body is not ready, or my mind is not ready."
A return to the Indian team may not be easy. When asked if she is targeting a specific format, or eyeing the WPL, she keeps it simple: "Target-wise, I just want to play my best cricket. I am expecting nothing but I am ready for everything."
