Smriti Mandhana Welcomes Shafali Verma's T20I Return, Anticipates Dynamic Opening Partnership Against England

Smriti Mandhana has expressed her excitement about opening the batting with Shafali Verma once more, praising Verma's resilience and performance after regaining her place in the Indian team. This reunion is highly anticipated ahead of the first of five T20Is against England at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

Mandhana's remarks came on the eve of the match, where she also highlighted the upcoming contest between herself and Lauren Bell, the spearhead of England's seam-bowling attack.

Verma's return to the T20I squad follows a period where she fell out of favor after India's exit from the T20 World Cup and subsequent lean performances in ODIs against New Zealand.

Filling in for an unwell Harmanpreet Kaur at the pre-match press conference, Mandhana lauded Verma's dedication to earning her recall through consistent performances in domestic cricket and the Women's Premier League (WPL). In the WPL, Verma was a standout performer, notching 304 runs at an impressive strike rate of 152.76.

"She's had an amazing year," Mandhana said, acknowledging Verma's efforts. "Once the setback had come, she went to domestic cricket, scored bucket-loads of runs and had an amazing WPL."

Mandhana emphasized Verma's inherent talent and past dominance in the Indian team, stating, "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, 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."

Verma's domestic performance was indeed remarkable. She was the leading run-scorer in both the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy (527 runs, 152.31 strike rate) and the Senior Women's One-Day Challenger Trophy (414 runs, 145.26 strike rate) as captain of Haryana.

Mandhana and Verma currently hold the second position for the most partnership runs as an opening pair in women's T20Is, accumulating 2636 runs at a partnership run rate of 7.90.

Meanwhile, Lauren Bell is eager to face Mandhana, her Southern Brave teammate in the Hundred series.

"I'm looking forward to bowling at Smriti," Bell commented. "I've obviously played with her, we've had a few net battles at the Brave before, so that'll be a good challenge, playing against her. It's exciting to be up against some of the best players and that normally brings the best out when you're playing against the best."

Bell also acknowledged the challenge of facing both Mandhana and Verma, recognizing their distinct playing styles and talent. "The last time I played India, it's always been Smriti and Shafali opening the batting, so it's a challenge we've had before and one that is really exciting. They're both very talented and play differently, so I'm hoping it just brings the best out of us. As an England player, you really look forward to these series and thrive off the challenge and how good the opposition are."

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Bell: 'Looking forward to bowling at Mandhana'

"It normally brings the best out of you when you play against the best," she says

Bell has been refining her bowling action, now delivering the ball with a more upright stance, enabling her to swing the ball in both directions. She expressed satisfaction with her progress but remains committed to further improvement.

"In terms of that whole chapter, I'd say I've got into a really good place and I feel really, really happy," Bell shared. "But I don't think you can ever say you're complete as a bowler."

She added, "There's always stuff that I want to get better, but the big shift and the big change, I'm feeling in a really good place… hopefully we've moved on."

During West Indies' tour, Bell emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the T20I leg, securing seven wickets at an average of 9.72 and an economy rate of 5.66.

While her series-best figures of 3-28 were surpassed by Em Arlott's 3 for 14, Bell's performance, along with Arlott's debut, provided encouraging signs for England ahead of the more challenging series against India.

Bell acknowledged that India would present tougher challenges, stating, "They'll pose us a few more challenges. We had people making debuts and some people playing different roles, so they can take a lot of confidence from that. It was a really good series to have first up in the summer."

India's seam attack includes new faces like Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare, who received their maiden T20I call-ups, while experienced players Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar are absent from the squad.

Mandhana commented on the influx of new talent, saying, "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 the girls have rich experience in the domestic format."

She further added, "I'm really excited to see them. Young talent, whenever they come in, it's always very exciting. Everyone's been prepping well and what better place than England to come in as a pacer? Of course, they'll take a lot of lessons out of it and I'm sure they'll do the job for the team."