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Ahead of the team's opening fixture against New Zealand Women in the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024, India Women's opener Shafali Verma shared her thoughts on the clash against the Blackcaps and on facing Sophie Devine.
The Women in Blue, who reached the semi-finals in the previous edition, are placed in Group A of the competition alongside Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand on October 4 at the Dubai International Stadium. "Our first game is against New Zealand, and it's exciting to face them after a long time. We've been preparing for the World Cup for the past 6-7 months, and we're all looking forward to it. Sophie Devine is a fearless batter, so we'll try to get her out early," Shafali said while speaking on Star Sports. Further, the right-hand opener spoke on her on-field relationship with her batting partner, Smriti Mandhana. "I've been opening with Smriti for the past 2-3 years, and now we can sense each other's feelings just by our facial expressions while batting. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and we give each other positive vibes. We understand how important we both are to the team, especially during the powerplay, so we try to perform well for ourselves, our teammates, and the country," the 20-year-old said. "Smriti di is an exceptional timer of the ball, and she knows how to build an innings. These are the two things I admire most about her batting--her timing and her ability to construct a big innings," she added. India Women Squad for ICC WT20 World Cup 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Yastika Bhatia (subject to fitness), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil (subject to fitness), Sajana Sajeevan. Travelling reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor. Non-travelling reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra. (ANI)
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