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Ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma were one of the most destructive opening pairs of modern era. However, the attacking duo has struggled in the tournament so far in Dubai pitches which don’t have enough pace. After a disappointing show against New Zealand which led to a 58-run loss, they were supposed to come all guns blazing against Pakistan but it didn’t happen. Ahead of the clash against Asian Champions Sri Lanka, former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has an advice for the two openers on how to excel on Dubai’s slow pitches. He wants them to focus on rotation of strike instead of searching for boundaries every ball in the powerplay overs which leads to pressure.
"The batting has been slightly disappointing. I feel the fans will be slightly disappointed with the way they have batted. The batting was very bad against New Zealand. The problem is that the pitch in Dubai does not suit Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana," he said during an interaction on Star Sports.
"Mithali Raj mentioned in the pitch report that it will have spongy bounce, so the ball comes slightly slower. That's not an ideal surface for Shafali Verma and Mandhana because they want pace and score through boundaries. Shafali Verma scored a few runs but she shouldn't think only about fours and sixes in the first five or six overs. This applies to Smriti Mandhana as well," he added.
How Shafali and Mandhana fared in World Cup so far
In the first match, India expected a good start from the two. Shafali handed an easy catch to bowler Eden Carson. Mandhana hit a couple of fours before losing her wicket to Carson after scoring 12 runs from 13 balls. As a result, India could not keep up with the required run rate and were bowled out for 102.
The encounter against Pakistan was a must-win. India had a chance to improve their net run rate (NRR) after restricting arch-rivals to 105. But Mandhana couldn't score a single boundary. She departed after scoring just seven runs from 16 balls. No boundaries were scored in the powerplay overs. Shafali accelerated after a slow start but could not finish the run chase. She contributed with a sluggish 32 off 35 balls.
