Shafali has been given free licence to play fearless cricket: Pandey

Pacer Shikha Pandey has heaped praise on young Shafali Verma after the 16-year-old gave India a blistering start in their win against Bangladesh on Monday (February 24) at the WACA in Perth. Her 17-ball 39 gave India the impetus as she hit four sixes in the power play itself as the Women in Blue finished at 142 for six wickets in 20 overs – the highest in the tournament till now.

Pandey was also impressed with another youngster Jemimah Rodrigues’ 34 off 37 and wants to see both youngsters continue to enjoy their cricket. And while Verma was the star of the show, 19-year-old Rodrigues also impressed with a measured knock – with Pandey confident the world will be seeing more of the same from the exciting young pair in Australia.

“We haven’t asked her (Verma) to change anything,” said Pandey. “She’s been given free licence to play her fearless brand of cricket. She’s amazing. At 16 I hadn’t even started training to become a cricketer. I’m very pleased to have such young fearless players in our team. It’s amazing to see them doing what they did for us. There’s no baggage, that’s the biggest thing, and they express themselves so well in the team.”

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For India, victory was their second of the tournament, while Bangladesh fell 18 runs short of an upset in their first match Down Under. Nigar Sultana Joty top-scored with the bat with 35 off 26 balls, but struggled to build a partnership in the middle as Bangladesh were halted at 124 for eight in their chase. And while Joty was full of admiration of Verma, she pointed out the 30-run contribution of Bangladesh’s own young star Murshida Khatun at the top of the order.

“Shafali Verma played absolutely brilliantly,” said Joty. “But Murshida Khatun played very well with the bat for us – she’s in good form nowadays. I think she is going to be one of the best players in our team. It is her first World Cup but she’s been with us for the last 18 months so she’s gelled well.

“We missed some chances in the field and didn’t bowl well enough in the last five overs. We haven’t played many matches against the top eight teams, but we’re a cricketing nation. People are expecting us to win and we’re always going for the win too,” added Joty.