Charani Justifying the Faith Mithali Raj Showed in Her

Apart from stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana, another India cricketer created a flutter with her performance against England in the first T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Saturday.

- Shalini Gupta

Wearing a blue headband over her pixie haircut, left-arm spinner Shree Charani hogged the spotlight on T20I debut by claiming four wickets for 12 runs to help India hand England their heaviest defeat, by a comprehensive 97 runs. The 20-year-old, who had played five ODIs since her international debut in April, showed her mettle to announce her arrival in the shortest format for India with a bang.

India tried out spinners Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana, and also selected Shuchi Upadhyay for the England tour, but owing to injuries all have been kept away from the action. Taking advantage of the chance that opened up, Charani, who plays for Andhra Pradesh, has been able to make an impression not only with her attitude on the field but also as a spin talent. It was former India skipper Mithali Raj who was impressed with Charani's talent and pushed her hard.

Being the mentor in Andhra Pradesh, Mithali saw Charani's spin bowling and discussed with Andhra Pradesh senior women's team head coach and former India cricketer, Vanitha VR, about the roadmap for the spinner.