Women's Asia Cup 2022: "She did score runs, but it was not at all convincing" - Anjum Chopra on Shafali Verma against Thailand

Former cricketer Anjum Chopra wasn't completely impressed with Team India star Shafali Verma's performance against Thailand in the semifinals of the Women's Asia Cup 2022.

The 18-year-old scored 42 off just 28 balls with five boundaries and a six at a strike rate of 150. However, she was also gifted a number of lives by Thailand through dropped catches and a missed run out. Verma played a part in the second innings as well, returning figures of 1/9 in two overs.

Her efforts saw her win the Player of the Match award.

Speaking in a video on her YouTube channel, Anjum Chopra explained why Shafali Verma's contribution wasn't as convincing as it should have been. She opined:

"Shafali Verma also got two more lives when apart from the run-out chance, her catch was dropped and a stumping was also missed. She did score runs, but it was not at all convincing."

India lacked the aggressive approach in a big game: Anjum Chopra

Verma's knock helped India register a total of 148 in the first innings against Thailand. The Women in Blue then kept their opponents under the kosh throughout and restricted them to just 74/9 to secure their place in the final of the tournament.

Although Thailand lost the game, Anjum Chopra credited their bowlers for putting the Indian openers under pressure. Both Smriti Mandhana and Verma struggled with their communication while running between the wickets and weren't able to get their team off to a flying start.

Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana on different books once again while calling between the wickets. 🥲 twitter.com/vinayakkm/stat…

According to Chopra, India should start such big games on a dominant note. On this, she stated:

"Thailand began to apply pressure with the ball early on and the lack of communication between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma was clearly visible. Shafali was almost run-out and seemed angry. I felt they lacked the aggressive approach that you need in a big game."

India will go into the final of the tournament against Sri Lanka as favorites and will be keen to bag their seventh Women's Asia Cup title.

Women's Asia Cup squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, S Meghana, Sneh Rana, D Hemalatha, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Kiran Navgire.