Facing Haryana Men's Ranji Bowlers Helped Better My Technique - Shafali Verma Reveals How She Improved On Dealing With Bouncers

India‘s young batting sensation, Shafali Verma reveals how she improved her technique and confidence while facing the bouncers. The 17-year-old took the world by storm in the Women’s T20 World Cup last year where she guided India to the final with the quickfire starts.

Her fearless power game was so impressive that she earned deals from The Hundred in England and the WBBL in Australia; Shafali Verma has also been given her maiden call-up to the national ODI and Test squad for the forthcoming tour to England.

In all, the right-hander has amassed 617 runs in 22 T20Is  for India at a terrific strike rate of 148.31 and is the current number one ranked ICC T20I batter.

I chalked out a plan and played 150 balls bouncers at a time: Shafali Verma

Recently, the Rohtak-born was once again at a show in the home matches against South Africa scores of 23, 47, and 60 came at a strike rate of 156.63. It was the way she dealt with short balls which caught everyone’s eye.

Shafali Verma reveals that she used to practise about 150 bouncers at a time to improve on her short ball playing aspect.

“If you try to get better at something and get complacent after trying just once, it never works out. I chalked out a plan and played 150 balls [bouncers] at a time, then rested for a bit and faced more bouncers. I focused on practising the same thing over and over again,” Shafali Verma told ESPNcricinfo.

Further, she revealed that she had also batted against the Haryana men bowlers, who all bowled at a high pace, ahead of that series. Shafali Verma said the Haraya bowlers Harshal Patel, Mohit Sharma, Rahul Tewatia helped with her technique and confidence, and she is thankful for their support.

“I feel that I benefited a great deal from that Ranji camp. My back-foot game was a bit weak earlier, but facing the Ranji bowlers, who would come in at around 140kph, has helped better my technique and confidence on that front.

“I interacted with Harshal [Patel], who recently played in the IPL, Mohit [Sharma] bhaiya, Rahul Tewatia, and picked their brains about dealing with the bouncer. They shared their inputs with me and so did their coach. He gave me his feedback on my batting. I’m very grateful to everyone at the Haryana Cricket Association for the opportunity,” the youngster revealed.