Amol sir stresses team must always be ready: Shafali Verma
India Women opener Shafali Verma has emphasised on preparing for every role in the team, saying all batters regularly bowl in the nets to train themselves for different match situations, which is in sync with the philosophy of head coach Amol Muzumdar.
Shafali smashed a 34-ball 69 to power India to a seven-wicket victory in the second T20I against Sri Lanka here on Tuesday, giving the home team a 2-0 lead in the five-match rubber. When the discussion turned to bowling options at the post-match media conference, she said, “Of course, I will talk about myself. I like to bowl a lot, and I think when we get bored while fielding, we get to bowl. So, we get to contribute more to the team.”
She added, “Amol sir always tells the team that anyone can bowl and everyone should be ready, and we all keep bowling in the nets. We prepare for that, we all are very keen to bowl. Even Smriti didi did as well. Me and Jemimah are also bowling in the nets. “So, I think we all bowl. Cricket is a different game. You never know when the team will need you. So we all have to be ready for that.” Shafali’s unbeaten 69 is now her career-best WT20I score in India. This was her fifth half-century in home conditions and 12th overall in the format.
The Indians have been sloppy on the field of late, dropping catches that ought to be taken, but Shafali said the team has been working very hard to improve in that vital department of the game with the World Cup scheduled next summer in the UK. “Everyone is very keen to work hard. We all know next year is the T20 World Cup, and we are paying attention to every small detail. “As you said, we missed catches in the first match. But everyone is putting in the effort in fielding. Day by day, we are thinking of improving.”
She now has 2,299 runs from 92 WT20Is at an average of 26.73 and a strike rate of 132.58. She expressed her happiness at young left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma getting her maiden international wicket in her second game. “She wasn’t that happy, but we were all very happy for her. She is bowling so well and looks very confident,” Shafali said. Speaking about the takeaways from the first two games, the 21-year-old said, “There have been a lot of good things in these two matches.
“We know we are putting in a lot of effort, and day by day we are improving.” When asked about her approach in the chase of 129, Shafali said she focussed on rotating the strike until the ball started to come on to the bat nicely. “I thought it was my day, but my main aim was to execute my plans. When you keep playing, it keeps coming on the bat. “In the beginning, the ball was holding up, so I was trying to get a couple of singles at the start. After that, the ball started coming on to the bat and was in my range.
