Nottingham [UK], June 27 : Ahead of her side's first T20I against England in Nottingham, Indian vice-captain and opener Smriti Mandhana hailed opener Shafali Verma for going back to the domestic grind after being dropped and earning herself a comeback to the national side.
The Indian women's team will kickstart their white-ball series against England at Nottingham, starting with the first of five T20Is at Nottingham on Saturday. This match will mark Shafali's return to Team India, who last donned the national colours on October 29 last year and was dropped due to poor form.
Since then, Shafali has done a lot of hard work in domestic and franchise cricket circuit. She played 50-over domestic over competitions, captaining Haryana to quarterfinal finish in the Senior Women's One Day Trophy, topping the run-charts with 527 runs at an average of 75 and strike rate of over 152.
Then she featured in a crucial Senior Women's One Day Challengers Trophy, earlier in January this year, she dominated the charts, as the Team A skipper, scoring 414 runs at an average of 82.80, with a strike rate of over 145, with a century and two fifties. Nobody scored at a higher pace in the competition and scored close to 200 runs than the next best, D Vrinda (217 runs).
Then, coming to the Women's Premier League (WPL), while Delhi Capitals (DC) made a heartbreaking hat-trick of runners-up finishes, Shafali's form was a massive positive as she was team's top run-getter and fourth-overall, with 304 runs in nine innings at an average of 38.00 and a strike rate of over 152, with a half-century.
As the road to the home 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup (from September 30) and 2026 Women's T20 World Cup starts, this series is a massive chance for Shafali to send a reminder to the selectors of why she should be the primary choice. In her absence, Pratika Rawal featured in 11 ODIs, scoring 638 runs at an average of 63.80 with a century and five fifties, at a strike rate of almost 90.
Speaking ahead of the match in the pre-match presser, Smriti said, "She has had an amazing year. After her setback, she went back to domestic and scored a bucketful of runs. She had a great WPL as well. No one had any doubts about her talent. The way she had come into the Indian team and dominated, she is a world-class player and always will be. For her to go back and do what she did was amazing to see. She deserves this comeback, and I am excited to open with her again."
India's T20I Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare, Radha Yadav
India's ODI Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare, Radha Yadav.