Indian’s women batting sensation, who has been included in the ODI and Test squads recently, revealed how training with Haryana Ranji bowlers helped better her game ahead of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
The swashbuckling batter has quickly become one of the Indian women’s game stars and earned her first call-up in the Test and ODI formats. She recently earned a promotion in BCCI’s annual contracts from Grade C to Grade B.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, the current no. 1 T20I batter, revealed that she worked on her fitness and skills. She worked out a plan to improve her game and would face 150 bouncers at a stretch. The improvement was quite visible in the South Africa series, where she scored 23, 47 & 62 in the T20I series and looked at ease against bouncers.
“I feel I benefited a great deal from that Ranji camp. My back-foot game was a bit weak earlier, but facing the Ranji bowlers, who bowl at around 140kph, has helped better my technique and confidence on that front,”
Shafali said.
“I interacted with Harshal [Patel], who recently played in the IPL, Mohit [Sharma] bhaiya, Rahul Tewatia and picked their brains about dealing with the bouncer. They shared their inputs with me and so did their coach. He gave me his feedback on my batting. I am very grateful to everyone at the Haryana Cricket Association for the opportunity,”
she added.
Verma further admitted that she has been practicing with wet synthetic balls to train for the overseas challenges.
“To simulate skiddy conditions [overseas], I have been training with wet synthetic balls, to allow them to skid more.”
Verma’s explosive game has earned her overseas league contracts, where she will represent Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred and Sydney Sixers in the Women’s Big Bash League.
The Indian women’s cricket team will fly to the UK on June 2 in a chartered flight. They’re set to play a one-off Test against England in Bristol from June 16, followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is from June 27 to July 15.
