New Delhi: Team India will take on England in the first women’s T20I at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Saturday, June 28. Explosive opener Shafali Verma is making her comeback in the team after eight months. India’s vice-captain is excited to have her back ahead of the five-match T20I series against England.
After getting dropped from Team India, Shafali scored a lot of runs in the domestic cricket and was the leading run-getter in the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy (527 runs, 152.31 strike rate, 75.29 average) and the Senior Women’s One-Day Challenger Trophy (414 runs, 145.26 strike rate, 82.80 average). Shafali was also the fourth-highest run-scorer in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) with 304 runs at a strike rate of 152.76.
Mandhana praised Shafali and said that she had an amazing year, and after the setback, she went to domestic cricket and scored bucket-loads of runs. India’s vice-captain further added that she is world-class player and no one had any doubts about her talent.
“She is a world-class player and always will be, but for her to go back and do what she did in the last year was amazing to watch. She deserves this comeback and I’m really excited to open with her again,” Mandhana said in the press conference.
The opening duo of Mandhana and Shafali are second on the list for most partnership runs in the women’s T20Is, scoring 2636 runs and a partnership run rate of 7.90.
The Women in Blue have some new additions to their pace attack, with Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare earning maiden T20I call-ups. Mandhana expressed confidence in the inexperienced fast-bowling lineup to perform well in England despite the absence of first-choice bowlers due to injuries.
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare
