Shafali a 'special talent', will explore combinations to help us win consistently: Powar

Jun 01, 2021

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 1 : India women's cricket team coach Ramesh Powar on Tuesday labelled teen sensation Shafali Verma as a "special talent".
For the first time in her career, Shafali has been called up into the ODI and Test squad and she is set to stage on fire in the upcoming multi-format series against England.
"I think every player on this squad makes a difference. Shafali is a special talent, we are trying to get every combination which will help us to get to a total which is a standard, in fact we want to pass that, we want to supersede that. We are not aiming for any A or B target, we are trying to assess the targets, somewhere it might be 270, in India, it can be 200 only, we will explore combinations which will help us win consistently," said Powar while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
Further asked how he would like to coach youngsters like Shafali, Powar said: "It depends on the way she handles the practice sessions. We have done something great with Prithvi Shaw when we played the Vijay Hazare Trophy. We have to wait and watch."
The women's team will take on England in a one-off Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is. The two teams will first square off in a four-day Test match, beginning June 16.
Then both teams will lock horns in three ODIs beginning June 27 with the matches slated to be played at Bristol, Taunton, and Worcester. They will then square off in three T20Is, beginning July 9 and the three matches will be played at Northampton, Hove, and Chelmsford.
"I just want the women's team to get better in their game. I just want them to look for excellence, the glory will find them," said Powar.
India's Senior Women squad for Test & ODI: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.
India's Senior Women squad for T20I: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simaran Dil Bahadur.