Uma misses out; Yastika makes it to familiar-looking India’s T20 World Cup squad
India will go into the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, with Smriti Mandhana the vice-captain.
The Australian women on Sunday wreaked havoc on Indian bowlers to put a massive 184 for 4 on the board before bundling India out for mere 99 runs and clinching the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for a record fifth time.
India’s teenage prodigy Shafali Verma broke down into tears as the Women in Blue were outplayed by Australia in the finale of the biennial event. The 16-year-old was India’s gem in the just-concluded mega event with the scores of 29 off 15, 39 off 17, 46 off 34 balls and 47 off 34 before the final.
But the attacking opener fell prey to Megan Schutt on Sunday’s finale in just the third ball of her innings and that hurt her the most. However, experienced opener Shafali Verma feels that such failures would teach the teenager a lot more than success.
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“Shafali and I were standing almost together when we were receiving our medals. She was in tears,” said Mandhana as quoted by IANS.
“I told her she had to be really proud of the kind of campaign she’d had. When I played my first World Cup at the age of 16, I couldn’t hit the ball 20 per cent of what she can hit.
“She has to be really proud of the way she played, but she was upset with the way she got out.
“She’s thinking already how she can be better. She should be left alone, that’s the most I can tell her.
“This is a time to introspect. Failure teaches you a lot more than success,” the southpaw added.
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