New Delhi: Former Indian women’s team captain Anjum Chopra lashed out at the manner in which Shafali Verma was dismissed during the first T20I match against Bangladesh.
India restricted Bangladesh to 114/5 after asking them to bat first in the series opener in Mirpur Sunday. Chasing 115, India suffered an early jolt when young pacer Marufa Akhter found some swing to trap Shafali Verma lbw for a two-ball duck in the opening over.
But skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who was dropped on 24, made full use of the reprieve to hit six fours and two sixes in her unbeaten knock of 54 at a strike rate of 154.29 to lead India to an easy seven-wicket victory.
In a video posted on her YouTube channel, while analysing India’s chase Anjum raised questions about Shafali’s preparation leading up to the series.
“When India came to bat, I saw the same thing lacking, especially Shafali Verma. Bangladesh played only one fast bowler in their lineup. Marufa Akter is a very young player, we saw her in the T20 World Cup in February, she has pace and swing but you should be slightly ready as an opener,” the former Indian skipper said.
“Shafali Verma committed the same mistake once again. She played around the front pad and got out lbw without opening her account. It will create an impact that she got out for a duck and the bigger impact will be created because of the way she got out. It means you have not worked on yourself and if you have done, it was not enough,” she said.
She further praised Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet in particular for helping the team chase down the target after losing two early wickets.
“Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur are seasoned campaigners. Harmanpreet Kaur won the Player of the Match with a half-century and won the game for the team as well but I found the batting rusty. It should be the case as well as the Indian team haven’t played competitive cricket since the WPL,” Anjum said.
With an easy win in the series opener, India went 1-0 up in the three-match series with the second T20 scheduled to take place on Tuesday at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
IANS