Mandhana Hails Verma's Resurgence, Anticipates Dynamic Opening Partnership

Smriti Mandhana is looking forward to partnering with Shafali Verma at the top of the order once again. This comes as Verma makes her return to the T20I side after being dropped following India's exit from the T20 World Cup and subsequent struggles in the ODI series against New Zealand.

Mandhana, standing in for the unwell Harmanpreet Kaur at a pre-match press conference, lauded Verma's dedication to earning her recall. She highlighted Verma's performance in domestic cricket and the Women's Premier League (WPL), where she amassed 304 runs at a striking strike rate of 152.76.

"She's had an amazing year," Mandhana said of Verma. "Once the setback had come, she went to domestic cricket, scored bucket-loads of runs and had an amazing WPL."

Verma's domestic dominance included topping the run charts in both the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy (527 runs, 152.31 strike rate) and the Senior Women's One-Day Challenger Trophy (414 runs, 145.26 strike rate) as captain of Haryana.

Mandhana emphasized Verma's inherent talent and potential. "No one had any doubts about her talent, the way she had come into the Indian team and dominated. She is a world-class player and always will be, but for her to go back and do what she did in the last year was amazing to watch. She deserves this comeback and I'm really excited to open with her again."

The pair of Mandhana and Verma hold the second-highest partnership runs as an opening duo in women's T20Is, amassing 2636 runs at a partnership run rate of 7.90.

Bell Anticipates Facing Mandhana

Meanwhile, England's Lauren Bell is eager to bowl against Mandhana, her teammate at the Southern Brave in the Hundred.

"I'm looking forward to bowling at Smriti," Bell stated. "I've obviously played with her, we've had a few net battles at the Brave before, so that'll be a good challenge, playing against her. It's exciting to be up against some of the best players and that normally brings the best out when you're playing against the best."

Bell also acknowledged the challenge posed by the Indian opening pair. "The last time I played India, it's always been Smriti and Shafali opening the batting, so it's a challenge we've had before and one that is really exciting. They're both very talented and play differently, so I'm hoping it just brings the best out of us."

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Bell: 'Looking forward to bowling at Mandhana'

"It normally brings the best out of you when you play against the best," she says

Bell, who was the leading wicket-taker in the T20I series against West Indies, feels she is in a "really good place" with her bowling after working on her action last summer.

India Introduces New Seam Bowlers

India has included fresh faces in their seam attack, with Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare receiving their first T20I call-ups. The squad is without the experienced Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar.

Mandhana expressed her excitement about the new talent. "The WPL has been good in terms of finding new people and of course the domestic system as well, the amount of matches the girls play nowadays. All the girls have rich experience in the domestic format."