India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana on Friday said that she was looking forward to opening the innings with Shafali Verma again with the latter making a comeback to the side for the England T20Is after having been out of reckoning in recent months.
“She’s had an amazing year. Once the setback had come, she went to domestic (cricket), scored bucket loads of runs, had an amazing WPL and of course no one had any doubt about her talent, the way she had come into the Indian team and dominated,” Mandhana said in the pre-match press conference.
“She is a world-class player and always will be, but for her to go back and do what she did in the last one year was amazing to watch. She deserves this comeback and I’m really excited to open with her again,” she added.
🗣️🗣️ Shafali Verma is a word class player and deserves this comeback #TeamIndia vice-captain Smriti Mandhana ahead of the #ENGvIND T20I series opener tomorrow 👌👌@mandhana_smriti | @TheShafaliVerma pic.twitter.com/jZpRFTLhQT
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) June 27, 2025
Shafali was dropped last November after an inconsistent run in India colours, but has since been in stellar form in domestic cricket and had another solid season with the Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League.
“It’s not easy to get over (being overlooked for selection). I didn’t want to reveal because my father had a heart attack about two days before I got dropped from the team. I hid the news from him till he got better. He was in the hospital. I told him a week later,” Shafali had told The Indian Express in an interview.
Mandhana, meanwhile, said she was only “filling in” for Harmanpreet Kaur, who was not well enough to attend the pre-series press conference and expressed confidence that the regular captain will be available for the series opener.
“I don’t think she’s not playing; she’s just unwell today. I am here just filling up (for Harmanpreet) today,” Mandhana said.
Mandhana said coming to England with ample amount of time has helped them prepare better. “We came in earlier here, a good eight days of prep, a few good practice matches (in which) we got to know a lot of things about England’s conditions,” she said.
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“… Especially a lot of girls, it’s their first England tour, so it was important for them to come here early and get used to the conditions. The preparation has been good leading up to the series.”
(With agency inputs)
