Smriti Mandhana got a welcome fifty for India in the opening match against Pakistan at Edgbaston, and her opening partner Shafali scored a fifty against the Netherlands here at Headingley on Wednesday afternoon that was even more welcome.

The younger of one of the most feared opening duos in women’s cricket needed that knock as much as her team. For India to have a strong campaign in the Women’s T20 World Cup, Shafali’s quick scoring at the top of the hard would come extremely handy.

She is a fearless batter, but a bit restless, too. She would love to hit every ball for a six, but her senior partner will have none of it.

And she listens to the advice from Smriti. She admitted as much after their 115-run stand helped India post a comfortable victory against the Netherlands.

“She keeps me calm,” said Shafali. “She asks me to play along the ground. She has the best seat where she could tell me what right or wrong I am doing with my shots. I can also tell her about her batting.”

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Playing together for so long has helped. “We both know how to rotate strike,” she said. “We have been playing with each other for many years, we both know who needs to be on strike for a specific bowler.”

She said it was nice to have a big partnership after failing to get one in the series in England prior to the World Cup. “We were both talking a lot about it,” she said. “After the previous match, I worked a lot in the nets and tried to mentally control myself. We have many crucial matches coming up and we both are ready to tackle that.”

And yes, she is enjoying bowling with her golden arm. “I would like to contribute as much as I can,” she smiled. “We just have to lift that World Cup.”

Published on Jun 18, 2026