Mithali Raj wants Shafali Verma to play 'freely', says 'as a captain I encourage her'

Indian women's team's Test & ODI captain Mithali Raj has said that youngster Shafali Verma can play the way she wants to i.e. by freely expressing herself on her ODI debut against England. The finalists of the 2017 ICC Women's World Cup will lock horns in the first ODI at Bristol County Ground on Sunday.

Mithali Raj exudes confidence in youngster Shafali Verma's abilities

"There will be times when she gives us a head start. We would love that to be consistent but at the same time she’s a young kid, she’ll learn with experience, she'll also learn how to build an innings. Since she's getting into playing the ODI format for the first time, I as a captain encourage her to play the way she enjoys playing is comfortable playing, that's the style of batting she should do", said Mithali Raj during the press conference ahead of the first ODI.

"If we lose early wickets, we as experienced batters in the middle-order are there to rebuild, or if we get a good start, take the momentum forward. We have the batting depth to do that," the veteran cricketer added.

Shafali Verma was the star of the recently-concluded one-off Test match against the England eves with scores of 96, and, 63 respectively and now she will be expected to rise to the occasion in the white-ball leg of the series by making her bat do the talking against a formidable English side.

The 50-over cricket between the two sides will be played at Bristol, Taunton, and Worcester. The T20I series between England Women and Indian Women will begin on July 9 in Northampton and the final match will be played at Chelmsford on July 14.

England eves Vs Indian eves: ODI & T20I schedule

The next two ODI games will be played on June 30, and, July 3 respectively, whereas, the final leg of the ongoing tour i.e. the T20I series will be played on July 9, 11, and, 14 respectively.