Shafali, the cynosure of eyes

Recalled batter put through her paces both with bat and ball ahead of semifinal clash vs Aus

- GOMESH S @Navi Mumbai

AROUND 5.30 PM on Tuesday, as the Indian team emerged from the shadows to train ahead of the World Cup semifinal against Australia, all eyes were on one player - Shafali Verma. Having landed in the city the night before after being named as Pratika Rawal's replacement, it was her first training session with the team; possibly since the T20I series in England a few months ago.

Donning her T20I jersey and training shirts - unlike the rest of the team, who were in full training kits - Verma stood out. After the warm-ups were done, she stood alongside some of the usual suspects at the top of the batting orderSmriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur - with head coach Amol Muzumdar addressing the huddle. The discussion went on for about 10-15 minutes before they all went their separate ways.