Shafali over Jemimah: Smriti Mandhana explains India’s T20I vice-captain’s decision

Smriti Mandhana explained why Shafali Verma was preferred as the vice-captain of the Indian women’s T20I team. Following Harmanpreet Kaur’s decision to step down as captain, Mandhana was appointed to lead India across formats. While Shafali was named as her representative in the T20Is, Deepti Sharma was given the responsibility for the ODIs.

Shafali was given priority over Jemimah Rodrigues, who has eight years of experience on the international circuit. Jemimah also took over as Delhi Capitals captain from Meg Lanning and led the team to a runner-up finish in her first season as captain in the Women’s Premier League.

Mandhana said watching Shafali launch quality bowling attacks from the non-striker’s end revealed the special talent she possessed and convinced her that the young batsman had the potential to achieve big things for the Women in Blue.

“I think everyone knew when she came into the team that there was something special about the kid. Because from the non-striker’s end, I think in the first series which was against Australia, the way she dominated the Australian bowlers, we were all like, ‘Wow, that’s some player’,” Mandhana said while speaking on JioStar’s Follow the Blues: The Dawn of Captain Smriti.

ROASTED SHAFALI

Mandhana was also impressed with the maturity Shafali has shown over the past 12 months. The young opener played a key role in the Indian Women’s Last year, the World Cup final against South Africascoring 87 runs and claiming the key wickets of Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp.

“But to see her in the last six to 12 months, the kind of responsibility she has taken on as a batsman, not only in the first six overs but also after that, the way she has built her innings in the middle games, especially in the Asia Cup and the Asian Games, has been outstanding. The way she has shown maturity, I am really, really happy for her,” added Mandhana and I hope we can both take this team forward.

Having scored more than 3,300 runs in T20Is since her debut in 2018, Shafali will aspire to reach greater heights. For now, his focus is on the home series against Zimbabwe, followed by India’s tour of South Africa later this year.

– The end