Shafali to play fearless cricket

Perth: Experienced pacer Shikha Pandey on Monday said the Indian team management has given Shafali Verma the license to play fearless cricket as the teen sensation produced another explosive innings to set up a comfortable win against Bangladesh in the women’s T20 World Cup here. The 16-year-old Verma smashed a 17-ball 39, including four sixes, to steer India to 142 to six before her bowling colleagues restricted Bangladesh to 124 for 8 in their 20 overs to win the match by 18 runs. While Verma was the star of the show,

19-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues also impressed with a measured

34 from 37, and Pandey is confident the world will be seeing more of the same from the exciting young pair in Australia. “We have not asked her (Verma) to change anything. She has been given free licence to play her fearless brand of cricket,” Pandey said. “She is amazing. At 16, I hadn’t even started training to become a cricketer. I’m very pleased to have such young fearless players in our team. It’s amazing to see them doing what they did for us.” Pandey, who also chipped in by taking two wickets for 14 runs, said the likes of Verma has no “baggage”.