'I would love to fly them' - Hartley and Shikha Pandey involve in a Twitter conversation as Rafale jets enter Indian air space

India made its first acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the French-made Rafales were imported from Russia. On Wednesday, July 29, the first five Sukhoi jets landed in India. The Rafales are deemed to be a deadly prospect as it has the potential to strike air-to-air targets from up to 150 kms away and hit land targets 300 km with the enemy territories.

The aircrafts are capable of carrying some massive weapons. They have been designed to carry SCALP cruise missiles that can hit targets 300 km away. It means that an IAF Rafale taking off from Ambala would be able to reach a deep target inside China. Recently 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a cross-border battle with China.

“If it is anyone who should be worried about or critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be those who want to threaten our territorial integrity,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, sending a message to China.

In the meantime, England’s Alex Hartley had had a message for India’s Shikha Pandey. She took to Twitter and wrote, “Which one were you driving @shikhashauny?”

Thereafter Pandey replied to Hartley’s tweet, expressing her desire to fly them one day. Shikha replied to Hartley and wrote, “I would love to fly them. #RafaleInIndia Congratulations IAF, #GoldenArrows reach home!”

Here’s Shikha Pandey’s tweet

As far as Pandey’s career is concerned, she has made an illustrious journey thus far. She made her debut way back in 2014 and has been an integral part of the Women in Blue in limited-overs cricket. In two Tests, 52 ODIs and 50 T20Is, the Andhra Pradesh-born has churned out four, 73 and 36 wickets respectively. With her skills, she also manages to give her team regular breakthroughs.

She is no mug with the bat either, having scored 750 runs at the highest level with a couple of half-centuries in ODIs. The 31-year-old last played in the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia earlier this year. She started with a three-wicket haul against Australia in Sydney and ended with seven wickets from five games. She was one of the very reasons why India progressed to the final of the event.