I have always encouraged Shafali to play her the natural game, says Mithali Raj

Shafali Verma has grabbed all the headlines in the cricket fraternity owing to her spectacular performance. Playing her maiden Test match earlier in June, Shafali scored 96 and 63 runs across two innings to help India Women save the game. The 17-year-old is now in line to make her ODI debut as India Women will lock horns with England Women in the first ODI of the three-match series on Sunday.

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Ahead of the marquee series, India women's ODI skipper Mithali Raj lavished praises on the young opening batter. Raj revealed that she has always encouraged Shafali to play her natural game and focus on giving the team a good start. The skipper added she wants Verma to play with her usual energy as India has enough batting depth to make up for any early wickets. 

"That's Shafali's style (going full throttle) of batting. She will have to be consistent, but she is still young. I have always encouraged her to play her the natural game and if she gives us a great start, we experienced players will take it from there.

"I want Shafali to bring her usual energy to the batting line-up. And even if we lose early wickets we have the batting depth to rely on," said Mithali while replying to a query from ANI.

 Though Mithali acknowledged the fact that England is a strong side and will have a home advantage, she backed her players to deliver extraordinary performances. 

"Going into the series, we are very positive. England is one of the best sides in the world and they have a home advantage. We have players who have played in leagues and that will helps us do well in ODIs," said Mithali.