Mandhana Hails Verma's T20I Return: 'She Deserves This Comeback'

Mandhana Eager to Reopen with Verma After Impressive Comeback

Smriti Mandhana is anticipating a thrilling contest against Lauren Bell, the linchpin of England's pace attack, as India's tour commences with a five-match T20I series at Trent Bridge.

Mandhana also expressed her enthusiasm about partnering once again with **Shafali Verma**, who is set to make a comeback into the T20I side. Verma's return follows a period of absence after India's early exit from the T20 World Cup and a subsequent lean patch in the ODI series against New Zealand.

Mandhana, who filled in for an unwell Harmanpreet Kaur at the pre-match press conference, conveyed her admiration for Verma's dedication and performance in domestic cricket and the WPL. Verma emerged as the fourth-highest run-scorer in the WPL, accumulating 304 runs with an impressive strike rate of 152.76.

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

"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."

Verma's stellar performances include being the leading run-scorer in both the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy (527 runs, 152.31 strike rate, 75.29 average) and the Senior Women's One-Day Challenger Trophy (414 runs, 145.26 strike rate, 82.80 average), leading Haryana as captain.

Mandhana and Verma hold the second position for most partnership runs as an opening pair in women's T20Is, amassing 2636 runs with a partnership run rate of 7.90.

Bell is eager to compete against Mandhana, her teammate from the Southern Brave in the Hundred.

"I'm looking forward to bowling at Smriti," Bell said. "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."

"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. As an England player, you really look forward to these series and thrive off the challenge and how good the opposition are."

Bell has been refining her bowling action, which now allows her to swing the ball both ways. She expressed satisfaction with her progress but emphasized her commitment to further improvement.

"In terms of that whole chapter, I'd say I've got into a really good place and I feel really, really happy," Bell said. "But I don't think you can ever say you're complete as a bowler."

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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

"There's always stuff that I want to get better, but the big shift and the big change, I'm feeling in a really good place… hopefully we've moved on."

Bell was the leading wicket-taker during the T20I leg of West Indies' visit, which - like the ODI series - England swept 3-0, with seven wickets at an average of 9.72 and economy rate of 5.66.

England has included new faces in their team to face India. Meanwhile, India has also introduced fresh talent into their seam attack, with Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare receiving their maiden T20I call-ups, while Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar are absent from the squad.

Mandhana commented on the inclusion of new players, stating: "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."

"I'm really excited to see them. Young talent, whenever they come in, it's always very exciting. Everyone's been prepping well and what better place than England to come in as a pacer? Of course, they'll take a lot of lessons out of it and I'm sure they'll do the job for the team."