{"id":182147,"date":"2026-06-18T10:20:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=182147"},"modified":"2026-06-18T10:20:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:50:50","slug":"womens-t20-world-cup-2026-she-keeps-me-calm-shafali-verma-on-batting-with-smriti-mandhana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=182147","title":{"rendered":"Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 – She keeps me calm: Shafali Verma on batting with Smriti Mandhana"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The younger of one of the most feared opening duos in women\u2019s cricket needed that knock as much as her team. For India to have a strong campaign in the Women\u2019s T20 World Cup, Shafali\u2019s quick scoring at the top of the hard would come extremely handy.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe keeps me calm,\u201d said Shafali. \u201cShe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026: Charani four-fer, Smriti and Shafali fifties help India thrash Netherlands by 95 runs<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Playing together for so long has helped. \u201cWe both know how to rotate strike,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have been playing with each other for many years, we both know who needs to be on strike for a specific bowler.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. \u201cWe were both talking a lot about it,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yes, she is enjoying bowling with her golden arm. \u201cI would like to contribute as much as I can,\u201d she smiled. \u201cWe just have to lift that World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published on Jun 18, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2282050949.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":181672,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=181672","url_meta":{"origin":182147,"position":0},"title":"Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026: Charani four-fer, Smriti and Shafali fifties help India thrash Netherlands by 95 runs","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"June 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The two schoolboys hopped on a train from London early in the morning, got off at Leeds, and then took a bus to Headingley. 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