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United News of India
14 hours ago
- Sport
- United News of India
Mandhana sees England series as prep for the 2027 T20 World Cup
London, June 28 (UNI) India's star opener was excited to see the debutants experience English conditions for the first time which would prepare them well for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup to be held in England next year. Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said the five-match T20I series against England would serve as crucial preparation for the T20 World Cup, set to be held in the same conditions next year. Mandhana believes it offers India a valuable opportunity to acclimatise to English conditions ahead of the marquee event. "Since we have a T20 World Cup next year around the same time, around the summer of UK, which is again similar conditions, I'm sure the five T20Is will be a good prep for a lot of the girls and for us also to see to the conditions and how they suit our game too.' One of the key challenges for this Indian side will be the relative inexperience of players touring England for the first time. Youngsters like Kranti Gaud and Sree Charani are set to make their debut on English soil, and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana believes that the extended preparation period in these conditions will be crucial in helping the entire squad adapt and perform well. "It's been a good 25 days of prep, we had batters and bowlers camp at Bangalore at NCA and that was also very targeted and specific, keeping in mind this tour," Mandhana said. "Of course, we came a little earlier here, good eight days of prep, a few good practice matches, we got to know a lot of things about the England conditions. For a lot of girls, it's their first England tour so it was important for them to come here early and get used to the conditions," Opener Smriti Mandhana was full of praise for her opening partner Shafali Verma, who had returned to the squad after a lean patch that had led to her omission from the T20I setup in late 2024. Shafali made a strong statement with the bat during the Women's Premier League (WPL), finishing as the fourth-highest run-scorer with 304 runs at a blistering strike rate of 152.76. "She's had an amazing year. Once the setback had come, she went to domestic cricket, scored bucket-loads of runs and had an amazing WPL. No one had any doubts about her talent, the way she had come into the Indian team and dominated.' said Mandhana. Shafali also enjoyed a dominant domestic season, emerging as the leading run-scorer in the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy with 527 runs at an average of 75.29, and topping the charts in the Senior Women's One-Day Challenger Trophy as well, scoring 414 runs at an impressive average of 82.8. '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." Being one of the most experienced members of the Indian setup, Smriti Mandhana expressed her excitement about the new-look pace attack set to feature against England. With regulars Renuka Singh Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, and Titas Sadhu ruled out due to injury, the attack will be led by Arundathi Reddy. The responsibility of stepping up falls on Amanjot Kaur, Kranti Gaud, and Sayali Satghare, who will be eager to make their mark and fill some big shoes in the upcoming series. "(We have) a new look pace-bowling unit because unfortunately, there are a few injuries which had happened over the last four to five months, but (it is) really exciting, I mean (the) WPL has been good in terms of finding new people and of course, the domestic system as well. "The amount of matches the girls play nowadays - all these girls have a rich experience in the domestic format, so I'm really excited to see them.' UNI RKM
Hans India
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Hans India
Wiser, sharper and hungrier: Shafali Verma's next chapter as India player set to begin in England
New Delhi: In September 2019, a teenager with a jaw-dropping bat swing and a fearless attitude lit up Indian cricket. Shafali Verma, then just 15, exploded onto the international scene with a power game that left many opposition bowlers rattled. But in sports, evolution is inevitable, and in Shafali's case, it became essential. As India kick off its five-match T20I series against England in Nottingham, Shafali, now 21, returns to the national fold with the same aggression, but now layered with wisdom, sharpness in the game and a desire to get bigger scores at the international level. Dropped from the national set-up for almost eight months after last year's T20 World Cup and lean scores in subsequent ODI series against New Zealand, Shafali's tough times deepened as her father Sanjeev suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital. With the domestic season looming and Sanjeev pushing her through practice despite his own recovery needs, Shafali rigorously trained, improving fitness and honing her skills to now be back in national reckoning. The results have been there to see: Shafali was the leading run-scorer in the 2024/25 Senior Women's One-Day Trophy via 527 runs coming at an average of 75.29 and strike rate of 152.31. The Senior Women's One-Day Challenger Trophy was the next tournament to bring up big runs - 414 runs, at an average of 82.8 and strike rate of 145.26. A steady showing for Delhi Capitals in the 2025 Women's Premier League (WPL) - Shafali amassed 304 runs from nine innings with a strike rate of 152.76 – to be the side's leading run-getter. All of this was enough for Shafali to get back into the Indian team, albeit for the T20I tour. 'Everyone here is feeling good with her return to the Indian team and hopefully, she will do well. Our HCA camps, trainers, coaches - all of us had a role to play. Whenever she came to the academy, she spent time working on her game with us.' 'As they say in Bollywood terms, the superb first show on a film's release day, her entry in the Indian team was very much in that way. But as compared to the explosion she made suddenly in 2019, she is now back in the team with maturity and is keen on taking full responsibility in terms of how a senior player should play, and this is kind of hope everyone has from her now,' said Ashwani Kumar, Shafali's coach at the Shri Ram Narain Cricket Club in Rohtak, to IANS. Expanding on Shafali's development, Ashwani, a former Ranji Trophy player, highlighted her focus on shot selection. 'It happens many times that early shot selection wouldn't let her carry forward in the innings. But if you are against good bowling which is more aggressive all of a sudden, then how would you tackle that mentally - we chatted around these things and she took it very seriously.' Though Shafali continued to play her swashbuckling big hits, there was a visible restraint - an effort to value her wicket and bat deeper into the innings. According to Milap Mewada, fielding coach at Delhi Capitals in WPL 2025, this is precisely the next step in her evolution as an opening batter. 'No doubt in T20, you look to hit almost every ball and if you play 50 T20 games, there are 2-3 opportunities where you will bat for at least 20 overs as an opener. So I would love to see if she plays 65 balls at least in these T20 games. I want to see her play long first, and put a tag on her wicket, and don't give her wicket easily.' 'When a player gets dropped once or twice, then they realise the value of the India comeback. So I feel whatever happened was good, and I always believe that she will take learnings of last few months very far in her career. So the India T20I comeback has been very timely.' 'I feel her return to Indian team has happened at the right time because in WPL, she was scoring high. No doubt, 2-3 times she got out on 40s, but if she understands how to pass through that event, where she would often lost her wicket, then she can go for another 40-50 runs,' Mewada told IANS. Another important factor Mewada, who came off a stint with Afghanistan senior and emerging teams as their batting coach, noticed about Shafali was her putting in hard yards to counter her issues against short balls. 'While at DC, she was working on facing short balls and the ones going above abdomen height, as facing them was a little difficult for her previously.' 'But at the same time, she didn't get out that much of it. In T20s, even the bowler has limited overs and balls to bowl. So she was trying to elevate herself and optimise this situation - so that was a good sign.' That ability to play a longer innings - along with the importance of strike rotation to build her innings - could be Shafali's ticket to India's ODI team, especially in a World Cup year. Though Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol are in India's top order alongside Smriti Mandhana, Ashwani agrees the T20I series against England could shape Shafali's path for coming back into ODIs. 'The performances in this series hold huge importance in terms of her coming back to the ODI team. When people are tasked with making a comeback to the national team, a lot of them will say that something wrong happened with them due to this or that. But she understood it well why she got dropped and credit goes to her.' 'Here, the biggest principle of coaching is when a child knows what mistake she is making, then she has a chance to improve. If the children or anyone else does not know what mistake was made or is not ready to accept it, then the scope of improvement and comeback ends there,' says Ashwani. Mewada too expressed a similar sentiment. 'For how long did all the in-form openers in IPL 2025 lasted in their innings? They played nearly till the end or few lasted till the 20th over. If Shafali plays 15 or 16 overs in T20Is, she can even score a hundred.' 'She can capitalise on the powerplay and then play for long, which in turn will get her a chance to play in ODIs. I believe if she gets a start, then she should take it forward. When at DC, I would see her batting and thank God for making a very good player like her,' he added. While Shafali's batting is outstanding, Mewada notes that her fitness and fielding remain areas of further improvement. 'Suppose if I want to improve my fitness, I have to sweat out. If someone else sweats out, I cannot improve my fitness, and so I will have to work hard for that.' 'In the next 2-3 years, if her fitness improves, then her fielding will improve. For that, she has to conceive a pro-level thought process. But at the same time, she has a very good pair of safe hands. No matter how fast a batter hits a shot, she catches it easily because she is not afraid of catching it. But the only thing is her movement part which depends on her fitness.' 'Like going from point A to point B, how much time does she take to go? So that time if she can minimise, through improved fitness and speed, she will be the number one fielder. Then her running between wickets will be good and speed of reaching the ball will increase in fielding.' 'She can be a wonderful fielder because her pair of hands are safe. But she has to push herself for a lot of fitness training and have that mentality of 'I should be the fittest in the Indian team'. Shafali is like a jet engine who needs jet fuel to run her plane – and then only she can soar higher in all aspects of the game,' he elaborated. Shafali's strong performances in the T20I series against England could lead to her return to the Indian ODI team, a decision the Neetu David-led selection committee will then have to make before the World Cup takes centrestage. It's because no other female cricketer in India can rival Shafali's extraordinary abilities with the bat. The fireworks with the bat are still there - but now, there's a spark of something steadier, as England might witness the start of a new and mature chapter of Shafali's career as an Indian cricketer.
India Today
12-06-2025
- Sport
- India Today
Radha Yadav replaces injured Shuchi Upadhyay in India squad for England tour
Radha Yadav is set to make her return to the India Women's squad as an injury replacement for Shuchi Upadhyay ahead of the team's upcoming tour of England. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the change in a statement released on Thursday. A T20 specialist, Yadav rejoins the national side after missing out on recent international to the BCCI, Shuchi was ruled out after sustaining a left shin injury during the pre-tour camp held at the Centre of Excellence (COE) in tour of England is scheduled to begin on 28 June, comprising five T20 Internationals and three One-Day Internationals. Radha last featured in international cricket in December 2024, where she impressed with a four-wicket haul against West Indies at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. However, she saw limited game time in the 2025 edition of the Women's Premier League, featuring in just two comes in as a like-for-like replacement for Shuchi. The left-arm spinner has made 84 T20I appearances for India, although her involvement in the ODI format has been limited to just seven Shuchi had made her debut during the recent tri-series against South Africa and Sri Lanka but featured in only one match, going wicketless while conceding 59 runs in nine overs. Prior to that, she delivered a strong domestic season in the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy, finishing as the third-highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps for Madhya remains to be seen how swiftly the 20-year-old can recover and work her way back into national Indian women's team heads into the England tour on the back of a successful tri-series campaign in Sri Lanka, where they defeated the hosts by 97 runs in the final held in T20I Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), 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 YadavIndia's ODI Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), 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
