Shafali's maturity at this stage of her career good sign for Indian cricket: Mandhana
Jun 19, 2021
Bristol [UK], June 19 : India star batter Smriti Mandhana is "impressed" with teen sensation Shafali Verma's "amazing" approach in the ongoing one-off Test against England.
Shafali lead India's recovery after England enforced follow on Friday. Shafali hit a half-century in the second innings of the ongoing Test, but England remained in a dominant position here before the close of play.
"Shafali and Deepti stitched a good partnership at the end, so I think at the end we were in a good position. I think the condition changed slightly but it wasn't swinging that much that it wasn't playable or something. The conditions are still good to bat on," Mandhana said during a virtual press conference.
India openers Shafali and Mandhana put on 29 runs inside the first five overs, but right on the cusp of lunch break, Mandhana (8) lost her wicket to Katherine Brunt.
"It's quite impressive to watch her bat from the other end and also to bat along. I think we both are very similar to keep things simple, so we really don't discuss much batting in middle," said Mandhana.
"The kind of maturity Shafali has displayed at this stage of her career is good for Indian cricket. It is always amazing to watch the way she plays her shots and I hope she keeps going the same way.
"I got out before lunch so yeah I am really disappointed, would love to stay there and come back fresh tomorrow to bat again," she added.
Resuming the day three's play on Friday, India crumbled again as spinner Sophie Ecclestone took three wickets in the first session to help bundled out visitors on 231.
Mandhana admitted that Team India isn't used to batting beyond 50 overs but shied away from pointing towards the lack of experience in Test matches for India' collapsed.
"I think that will just be an excuse to give. But we can consider for sure that we aren't used to batting beyond 50 overs that much," said Mandhana.
"But I wouldn't say I got out because of lack of experience in Test matches because I threw my wicket away in the last session of yesterday," she added.
At stumps, India's score reads 83/1 and the visitors are still trailing by 82 runs. For India, Shafali and Deepti Sharma are unbeaten on 55 and 18 respectively.
