Radha Yadav heaped praise on her young teammate Shree Charani’s rapid rise. Just a year after making her international debut, the 21-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner has become the world’s No. 1 ranked T20I bowler in ICC Women’s Rankings.
Charani is currently the leading wicket-taker ally in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England. She took two wickets in India’s last Group A fixture against Bangladesh, bringing her total tally to 12 scalps.
“I have learnt so much from her,” Radha, who took three wickets to help India score a must-win against Bangladesh at Old Trafford, quoted as saying by The Hindu. “I see her in the nets, she does everything quietly and nails it in each session.”
Radha highlighted Charani’s top-notch work ethic. “I have seen her keep doing the same thing and have learnt it from her,” she said. “She keeps it simple, and doesn’t care about anything.”
Radha admitted to having a "nightmare" performance in the previous match against South Africa, where she dropped three catches as a substitute, followed by another dropped catch early in the Bangladesh game.
“I don’t have to say much about my fielding,” she stated. “I have done well in the past, so I have nothing to worry about.”
Radha Yadav also India’s fielding lapses in recent matches, stating that the team trains with high enthusiasm and rarely drops balls during practice, pointing out that the glare of the sun made fielding particularly difficult.
“Fielding is something we do with great enthusiasm,” she said. “You might have seen how our fielding sessions go. You would see we don’t drop a single catch in it. Fielding is something we have worked on for two or three years. It is not really an excuse but it was a bit difficult because of the sun.”
She revealed after the loss to South Africa, the team held a motivational huddle to keep spirits high, focus on mutual support, and maintain a positive attitude.
“So we just asked each other to keep smiling,” Radha said. “We all are doing our work and one can’t do more than that. There is only one thing you can do: help each other, keep each other’s spirits up, keep each other calm.”
India will next face Australia in a must-win game at Lord’s on Sunday (June 28).
