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#4 Smriti Mandhana backs Shafali Verma

Shafali Verma

Indian women's opening batter, Smriti Mandhana backed teenager and fellow opener Shafali Verma for playing the Sehwag-brand of game and hitting the ball from the word go. She spoke how Shafali's confident hitting took all the pressure away from her and gave India the perfect start they were looking for.

Mandhana, who was out of the second match due to fever, spoke about backing youngsters like Verma as they had the potential to change the game single-handedly. She revealed that the entire team management backed Verma despite occasional failures.

“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."

“She’s got a routine she likes to follow, and that’s the best thing about her. No-one has gone in and told her she has to change that."

“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."

“I don’t think we’ll be going into the game thinking about a total, but we will continue playing the way that is working for all of our batters.”

Full article: Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Smriti Mandhana backs Shafali Verma's aggressive playing style