Women’s T20 World Cup: Shafali inspired by Rohit Sharma’s powerplay heroics

India’s star opener revealed that she drew inspiration from Rohit Sharma’s style of batting in the power play. Shafali said that she felt good watching Rohit make the most out of the powerplay. She also named Australian women’s team captain Alyssa Healy as another batter who impressed her with batting inside the first six overs. India opener recalled Rohit Sharma’s knocks from the World Cup and said that he played memorable knocks at the top of the order. Shafali will be in action for India during the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
“I would choose India’s Rohit Sharma because the way he utilizes the Powerplay is memorable to watch. Even in the World Cup, there are 2-3 innings I can recall. I always feel good watching how he makes the most of the Powerplay,” Shafali told Star Sports.
Rohit’s heroics in the powerplay are known to the world, and not to forget his audacious hitting in the T20 World Cup 2024 against Australia as he scored 91 runs. The teenage sensation, Shafali rose through the ranks during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 when India reached their maiden final of the event.
However, India suffered a heartbreaking loss in the summit clash against Australia, who were crowned as ultimate champions. India lost the semi-final in 2023 yet again to Australia, who went on to beat hosts South Africa in the final. Australia will enter the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 as the defending champions, led by Alyssa Healy.
‘I would say Alyssa Healy, because whenever she is in good form, she makes the most of the Powerplay and continues to build her innings afterwards. She always looks to play the full 20 overs, so I would choose her.’
The ten teams were divided into two groups of five as they would battle it out across 23 matches in 18 days for the Women’s T20 World Cup trophy, starting October 3. The tournament would take place in a round-robin format as each team would face the other four teams in their group. The top two teams from each group would advance to the knockout stage.
Group A consisted of Australia, alongside India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while Group B comprised of Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies and Scotland.
The 20 league matches would be held across Dubai and Sharjah and the opener would take place between Bangladesh and Scotland in Sharjah on October 3.
The semi-finals were scheduled for 17 October in Dubai and 18 October in Sharjah. The final will be held in Dubai on October 20.