Verma, 17, who had smashed a stroke-filled 96 in the first innings, made 63 in the second, to become the youngest woman and fourth overall to score twin half-centuries in her debut Test and was rightfully adjudged player of the match.
India’s Shafali Verma celebrates her half-century in the second innings against England at Bristol. Pic/AP, PTI
Shafali Verma’s spectacular debut has caught the imagination of India women’s team Test skipper Mithali Raj, who feels the teenager will be a key member of the side in all formats of the game in future.
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Verma, 17, who had smashed a stroke-filled 96 in the first innings, made 63 in the second, to become the youngest woman and fourth overall to score twin half-centuries in her debut Test and was rightfully adjudged player of the match.
Mithali Raj. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
“She will be very, very important to the Indian batting unit in all formats. She beautifully adapted to this format,” Mithali said in a virtual media interaction after India, following on, salvaged a draw in the one-off Test against England.
“She didn’t go like how she would go bonkers in the T20 format. She played sensibly against the new ball. It’s great to have her.” On the decision to hand Verma a Test debut here, Raj said: “She has a great range of shots, and can be very effective in this format. If she gets going, in no time, we could see the score could be something else. Once we knew it’s a used wicket and there won’t be much movement, we felt it would be a good time to give her a Test debut and she has lived up to it.”
Raj rated the young opener’s knock in the second innings ahead of her first innings score of 96 given her composure and maturity. “The [second] fifty came with a little more sorted head and a bit more experience. Those sweetly-timed drives were beautiful to watch. She will grow from strength to strength.”
In reply to England’s first innings score of 396 for 9, India, playing their first-ever Test in seven years, collapsed to 231 from 167 for no loss, courtesy the fine start given by Verma and Smriti Mandhana. Following-on, India collapsed after fifties from Verma and Deepti Sharma and were staring at defeat before debutants Sneh Rana (80 not out) and wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia (44 not out) pulled off a thrilling draw in the last session.
India stretched their unbeaten run against England to 26 years with this draw and Mithali felt the result would give the visitors an edge going into the limited overs series. India play three ODIs and three T20Is, beginning with the first game here on June 27.
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