Shafali Verma revealed the success mantra behind her aggressive brand of cricket.© BCCI/Twitter
Swashbuckling opener Shafali Verma revealed the success mantra behind her aggressive brand of cricket, saying that while growing up she, along with her brother, used to have a “six-hitting competition”, and her father used to award whoever hit more sixes with Rs 10-15. Shafali’s remark came after the end of the second day’s play between India Women and England Women in the one-off Test. A short clip from Shafali’s post-match press conference was shared by the Indian cricket team’s official Instagram handle. “A six-hitting competition? Now, we know where those big hits come from,” BCCI captioned the video.
Shafali made her Test debut for India in the ongoing solitary Test against England. Even though it was her first match in red-ball cricket, on Thursday night during India’s first innings Shafali lived up to the expectations and lit up the Bristol County Ground. She hammered 96 runs off 152 balls, which included 13 fours and two huge sixes, to further enhance her reputation as an explosive batter.
Shafali, along with elegant opener Smriti Mandhana, gave India a brisk start after England declared their first innings on 396 for 9. The duo stitched a 167-run partnership for the first wicket and, in the process, created the record for the highest opening stand for the India women’s team in Test cricket.
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Prior to their knock, Gargi Banerji and Sandhya Agarwal held this record. The duo had a 153-run opening stand against Australia in 1984.
Shafali was undone by a Kate Cross delivery when she was just four runs short of her maiden Test century. After her departure, India saw a batting collapse as the team went from a strong position of 167 for none to 187 for five in the last hour of play.
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