Watch: Smriti Mandhana gives update on her injury ahead of T20 World Cup tie against New Zealand

A few days ago, while facing defending champions Australia at the Women’s T20 World Cup, Smriti Mandhana got injured while trying to stop a boundary. She stopped a four but was taken back to the pavilion for injuring her left shoulder. Despite the injury, Team India won the match.

But in her recent press conference she revealed that she was feeling much better than those days and she was hopeful of playing for Team India in their next outing against New Zealand in Melbourne on Thursday.

Yeah, I’m feeling much better than those days and hopefully I’ll be playing in the next match tomorrow.

She Said

Mandhana praised Shefali Verma

The opening batswoman of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team Smriti Mandhana showered words of praise on Shafali Verma for delivering goods consistently. She feels the inclusion of Shafali in the playing XI gives a perfect balance to the team, especially, in the shorter format of the game.

Speaking of Shafali, Mandhana stated that the emergence of Shafali is a positive aspect for the Indian team in the ongoing T20 World Cup. She is happy that Verma joined her in getting quick runs for the team in powerplay overs.

”Shafali has been a huge positive coming into the T20 side. The way she’s going about her batting, it’s so easy to bat alongside her,” she said on the eve of India’s T20 World Cup group match against New Zealand here on Thursday.

Smriti has revealed that Shafali has the licence to play bold cricket as the teen sensation produced another explosive innings to win against Bangladesh in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Mandhana has also added that Shafali has eased the burden on her shoulders to get quick runs.

“I used to score a lot of our runs in the last two or three years, especially in the Powerplay, but now with Shafali coming in, she’s getting the runs in the way I do. It makes the team more balanced,” Mandhana said.

Having won both their first and second match in the World Cup, Team India is all set to take on the Kiwi women’s team on February 27th in Melbourne.

Here’s the Video of Press Conference:

‘Shafali’s presence has taken the pressure off me’, said Indian opener #SmritiMandhana ahead of their 3rd match in the #T20WorldCup against New Zealand#ShafaliVerma #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/7Z3JWDn8hh

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 26, 2020