When New Zealand posted a challenging target of 161 in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 opener, there were a lot of expectations from Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. But the Indian openers could not get the side off to an ideal start at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 4 and departed after low scores. As a result, India failed to put up a fight and lost the match by 58 runs. After the comprehensive defeat, former India captain Anjum Chopra criticised the opening duo saying that they have disappointed more than the number of matches they have won for the country.
"Shafali and Smriti didn't deliver the start expected from them. They disappointed once again. They have disappointed more than the number of times they have won us matches. If you don't perform at such a stage, you are disappointed yourself but the team is extremely disappointed," Anjum said on her YouTube channel.
‘Poor game’ from Team India
The 47-year-old labelled India's sorry attempt at the run chase 'poor' as no batter could score in 20s and the team was bowled out for 102 in 19 overs.
"The Indian team couldn't recover from that setback. No batter looked in the flow to be able to chase runs and come even close to the target. The Indian team showed a poor game. This wasn't expected at all from the Indian team. They will be extremely disappointed that they lost to New Zealand like this," she added.
‘India weren’t ready at all’
Anjum credited the New Zealand batters for putting the Indian bowlers under pressure. Skipper Sophie Devine scored an unbeaten half-century after opting to bat first. Anjum felt that the Indian team weren’t ready for the challenge New Zealand posed and couldn’t make a comeback.
"India were completely outplayed by New Zealand. Captain Sophie Devine said she would want to bat as soon as she won the toss. Putting runs on the board is one thing but doing that by putting pressure is another. They put a lot of pressure on the Indian bowlers and they never left that approach," said Anjum who led India in 28 ODIs, 10 T20Is and three Tests.
“They kept hitting boundaries one after the other. The attacking approach they adopted, I think the Indian team, especially bowling, wasn't ready for that. They were not allowed to bowl at all. The pressure New Zealand put, the Indian team couldn't emerge from that. I am repeating again, it seemed the Indian team weren't ready at all," she added.
After the huge loss, India will take on Pakistan in a perform or perish clash on October 6.
