Shafali over Jemimah: Smriti Mandhana explains India’s T20I vice-captaincy decision

Smriti Mandhana has explained why Shafali Verma was preferred as vice-captain of India’s women’s T20I team. Following Harmanpreet Kaur’s decision to step down as captain, Mandhana was appointed to lead India across formats. While Shafali was named her deputy in T20Is, Deepti Sharma was given the responsibility in ODIs.

Shafali was preferred over Jemimah Rodrigues, who has eight years of experience on the international circuit. Jemimah had also taken over as Delhi Capitals captain from Meg Lanning and guided the team to a runners-up finish in her maiden season as skipper in the Women’s Premier League.

Mandhana said that watching Shafali take on quality bowling attacks from the non-striker’s end revealed the special talent she possessed and convinced her that the young batter had the potential to achieve big things for the Women in Blue.

“I think everybody knew when she came into the team, there’s something special about this kid. Because from the non-striker’s end, I think in the first series, which was against Australia, the way she dominated Australian bowlers, we all were like, ‘Wow, she’s some player’,” Mandhana said while speaking on JioStar’s Follow the Blues: The Dawn of Captain Smriti.

A MATURED SHAFALI

Mandhana was also impressed by the maturity Shafali has shown over the past 12 months. The young opener played a key role in India’s Women’s World Cup final against South Africa last year, scoring 87 runs and claiming the crucial wickets of Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp.

“But to see her in the last six to 12 months, the kind of responsibility she’s taken as a batter, not only in the first six overs but after that, the way she’s built her innings in the middle overs, especially in the Asia Cup and Asian Games, has been outstanding. The way she showed maturity, I’m really, really happy for her, and I hope we both can take this team forward,” Mandhana added.

Having scored over 3,300 runs in T20Is since her debut in 2018, Shafali will be eager to scale greater heights. For now, her focus will be on the home series against Zimbabwe, followed by India’s tour of South Africa later this year.

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