We've Given Shafali Verma Freedom To Play Big Shots: Harmanpreet Kaur Responds To Diana Edulji

Indian women’s team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday replied to former cricketer Diana Edulji’s comments by saying that the management has given the freedom to Shafali Verma, to play her natural game. This came after an earlier interview of Edulji, wherein she had advised the young lady to ‘put a price on her wicket’.

The 16-year-old Shafali has been a revelation at the Women’s T20 World Cup so far, scoring 161 runs at a massive strike rate of 161. While Shafali has helped India reach the semis by topping their group, Edulji had earlier asked her to be cautious.

However, the current Indian team skipper Harmanpreet went on to say that Shafali loves to play big shots, as such they do not want to stop her.

Team management has given Shafali Verma freedom to play her natural game: Harmanpreet Kaur

On Saturday, the young sensation who has lit up the World Cup scored 47 runs in 34 balls to help India steer past Sri Lanka. Speaking after the win, skipper Harmapreet said he would not want to stop Shafali from playing big shots, as it’s her natural game.

She said, “Shafali is someone who loves to play big shots, and we don’t want to stop her. She should continue doing the same and she should continue enjoying her game.”

Harmanpreet continued, “It’s really important to keep the momentum when you are winning games. You really work hard, so you can’t afford to lose that momentum. You can’t bowl same pace and lengths on these wickets, so you need to keep rotating the bowlers.”

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While the 30-year-old captain is herself renowned to play some big shots, she has failed to impress so far at the Women’s T20 World Cup.

“Today I tried to be positive and got a few boundaries. In the upcoming games I’ll try to give my best,” Harmanpreet said. 

Shafali was given two lifelines on Saturday after the Sri Lankan ladies dropped her catches twice. Speaking post-match, their skipper Chamari Atapattu rued the missed opportunities.

She said, “I think that score was not enough, we lost couple of chances, specially Shafali, it was hard to stop her. Yeah, I got a good start but unfortunately got out in the 10th, would have wanted to stay in there till the 16th or the 17th over. I hope we can beat Bangladesh in our last game.”

Meanwhile, India are now top of their group, with eight points from their respective four matches and are well poised for the semifinal.

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