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Anjum Chopra seeks improvement from Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana

image-ledw03ziShafali Verma and 

Former India Women's captain Anjum Chopra lambasted openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana for their passive mindset in their T20 World Cup match against Ireland.

Mandhana played a blazing knock, scoring her career-best T20I score of 87 runs off just 56 balls. At the same time, Verma contributed with 24 runs from 29 deliveries, stitching together a 62-run partnership in 9.3 overs for the opening wicket.

Mandhana, however, had a stroke of luck during her 56-ball innings as the Irish Women dropped her four times. So, Chopra wasn't impressed with the opening partnership between Mandhana and Shafali.


Here's what she said

"Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana batted well, but their batting wasn’t convincing. I was surprised. Both players have been scoring runs and had a long net session before the match as well. The catch practice that they gave, I felt strange. Why are you batting with the mindset that you are not in form? This should not happen."  

Analyzing India Women's overall batting effort, Chopra remarked:

"Largely thanks to Smriti Mandhana’s knock, India managed to put up a decent score on the board. The wind suddenly picked up, and then it rained as well. Conditions were difficult."

Mandhana's knock helped India post a challenging total of 155 runs for the loss of six wickets. However, Ireland's chase was interrupted by rain at 8.2 overs, with the score at 54/2.

Chopra believes that the game's outcome could have been different if the opposition fielders had been able to hold on to their catches. The former India captain stated: 

"This is a wake-up call for India as to how fielding can cost you a match. If Ireland had taken all their catches, there would not have been such a difference in the DLS par score. In that case, India’s total could have been a lower one. And who knows what could have happened in that scenario."

India Women will have an uphill task, as they will likely meet defending champions Australia in the all-important semifinal.