Always easy batting alongside Shafali Verma, reveals Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana expressed her delight in batting alongside Shafali Verma and revealed that the youngster compliments her style of batting. Mandhana, who has been the backbone of the team, feels that the 16-year-old's aggressive style of batting has also added plenty of balance to the team.
Shafali Verma can arguably be branded as the most exciting prospect in Women's cricket as of this moment and she has already set the stage ablaze in the ongoing World T20 with scintillating cameos in the first two matches. The 16-year-old, who is making her ICC Women’s T20 World Cup debut in Australia, picked up the Player of the Match award for her 17-ball 39 against Bangladesh, a game which Mandhana missed after picking up a viral fever.
Mandhana, who has been a mainstay in the XI ever since making her debut, applauded Shefali, heaped praises on her, and admitted that batting alongside the youngster makes life easy for her.Â
“Shafali has been a huge positive coming into the T20 side. The way she’s going about her batting, it’s so easy to bat alongside her. I used to score a lot of our runs in the last two of three years, especially in the Powerplay, but now with Shafali coming in, she’s getting the runs in the way I do. It makes the team more balanced,” revealed Mandhana, reported Hindustan Times.
Verma, who has already announced her emergence on the global stage, has scored 68 runs across two games in this World Cup, including five sixes and seven fours, at an impressive strike rate of 212. Mandhana, who also made her India debut in 2013 as a 16-year-old, further added that Shefali's aggressive style of play takes pressure off the southpaw and also adds more balance to the team.Â
“I used to have a major role in Powerplays, but Shafali is getting the quick runs in those first overs now too. She’s made a huge impact and the team has become more balanced thanks to her,” said the 23-year-old.Â
Having won the first two matches, the Women in Blue will square up against New Zealand Women at the Junction Oval in Melbourne in their third match on Thursday.Â
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