‘Leadership is developed on the field, not on the shelf’ - Mithali Raj backs Shafali Verma for India's T20 captaincy

Former India captain Mithali Raj backed Smriti Mandhana for the longer formats while suggesting much younger Shafali Verma could take on the T20 reins after India's early exit from a recent World Cup. When a social media user questioned whether Shafali possessed the necessary leadership credentials, Mithali pushed back firmly, outlining her reasoning for supporting the younger batter despite her lack of formal captaincy experience.

Mithali had thought Smriti would lead ODIs around two or three years earlier, but said at minimum the one-day and Test formats ought to go to her, with perhaps the T20 responsibility given to someone younger. The questioner raised a key concern, why not simply retain Smriti across all formats instead of handing the T20 captaincy to an untested leader? Their specific query highlighted that Shafali has never officially captained or served as vice captain at the franchise level in the Women's Premier League.

"I don’t understand how Mithali @M_Raj03 thinks @TheShafaliVerma can be T20 IWCT captain! I mean why can’t Smriti just be both ODI as well as T20 captain? Shafali has a long way to go, more than picking wickets or putting runs on the board, she still needs to prove herself in the leadership role. She doesn’t even captain or officially vice captain a wpl team either!," Srujana questioned on X.

"That’s a fair question. This isn’t about Smriti’s ability to lead, and I have no doubt about that, which is why I've mentioned that's she’s well suited to captain India in the longer formats. My thought on Shafali is more about looking ahead. She’s still young, has one of the best strike rates, can bowl and has been in the T20 setup since 2019; leadership is developed not on the shelf but on the field. Likewise, Jemimah, she is a part of every International T20 league. And it's true she didn’t have a good World Cup but that can happen to any player. She is a team player, selfless and an excellent player of spin; she also saves 20-25 runs every game with her fielding which often goes unnoticed. So according to me both are truly prepared," Mithali replied.

Mithali's reasoning on younger captains and development

Mithali stressed that whoever they pick, they need to give them some time to settle. Because all of us got time to settle in our role as a leader. She also addressed a broader systems issue.

"Shafali Verma led India to U-19 World Cup title but she was not given leadership role. We don't have a roadmap. We don't think about two years down the lane, where do you see Indian team? We are only thinking about series to series. We don't have a long-term plan" Mithali said.