Former Indian skipper Anjum Chopra did not mince her words as she criticised Shafali Verma for bagging a three-ball duck against Bangladesh in the first T20I of the three-T20I series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on July 9. Harmanpreet Kaur-led India won the match by seven wickets in a comprehensive manner but Chopra was not happy with how Shafali got out.
Chasing 115, Shafali was dismissed by pacer Marufa Akter off the third ball of the innings. Shafali tried to shuffle across and could not pick the in-swinger from Akter as she was trapped in front of the stumps.
"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," Chopra said in a video on her YT channel.
This was Shafali's first duck in T20Is in nearly two years. However, she has not been in the best of forms of late. From eight T20I innings, she has not been able to score a half-century. Her last fifty came against Australia on December 14, 2022.
"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 added.
Chopra feels that the coaching staff has their work cut out as Shafali needs to be cautious, especially when she has struggled to score runs.
"You don't make this mistake in the opening match of the season or series. It is understandable if you play like that when you are scoring runs. So this is a caution and also homework, especially for the Indian team's coaching staff or for Shafali Verma herself," the 46-year-old further added.
While the 19-year-old could not contribute with the bat, she was handy with the ball. The leg-spinner took the wicket of Sobhana Mostary. She conceded 18 runs from three overs. The opener will have a chance to prove herself as India take on Bangladesh at the same venue on July 11.
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