‘Nobody drops catches on purpose’: Shafali Verma cuts down on costly dropped catches ahead of Australia clash

Shafali Verma, right, celebrates the wicket of Sterre Kalis of the Netherlands during a Women’s World Cup T20 cricket match in Leeds, England, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP) India opener Shafali Verma believes India should keep things simple when they take on Australia in a must-win match at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.Sunday’s matches will decide which teams from Group A advance to the semi-finals. South Africa will face Bangladesh on six points, who have four points. India, also on six points, will then face unbeaten Australia, who have eight points.

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If South Africa beat Bangladesh, India will have to beat Australia to qualify for the semi-finals. However, Australia can still go through even if they lose as they already have eight points and a much better clean sheet.In an interview with JioStar, Shafali said that India have the confidence to beat Australia after winning the T20I series there before the World Cup.“Everyone knows Australia is a world-class team. But it’s not like we haven’t beaten them before. We beat them recently in the T20 series in Australia and that gives us confidence,” she said.India have beaten Australia 2-1 in the three-match series and Shafali believes a good knowledge of the opposition will help.“We’ve been playing against them for years. We know their pitching, their strengths and their schemes. So we’re going to keep things straight, which is important, and we’re going to play our own strengths. The more you overthink it, the harder it will be.”The opener, who scored two fifties in the last three innings, said she had a change of heart after the Pakistan match.“A lot of things have improved in my batting. Before the Pakistan match, I was overdoing it. I was planning too much how to play the first ball, what shot to play the second,” she said.“But after that match, I realized that I don’t need to complicate things. I just need to keep it simple. When I hit, I watch the ball and react. I don’t plan too far ahead. That helped me score more freely.”Apart from batting, Shafali also contributed with the ball. In recent matches with the new ball, she returned figures of 1 for 22 against South Africa, including the wicket of Tazmin Brits, after taking 3 for 20 against the Netherlands.She said that captain Harmanpreet Kaur gave her a clear role.“Harman di kept my role very clear. She told me that in the power bowl I would have to jump. So I am working on that in the nets as well. I am bowling with the new ball, focusing on hitting the right areas and trying to keep the ball around the stumps.”“As an opener, I know that when you bowl outside the off-stump, you give the batter space to score. So I always try to bowl based on what I would expect as an opener, what line and length would give me trouble. I keep that in mind when I’m mixing: tight lines, stump to off-stump and the batter to work the length,” she said.The Indian fielder came under scrutiny after several dropped catches during the tournament, but Shafali backed her female teammates.“Everybody’s thinking about giving it 100 percent. Nobody’s intentionally throwing catches or making mistakes. Sometimes you just don’t have your day, the ball doesn’t stick, the timing is bad or you get surprised by the bounce.”“But we always support a player who is having a tough day, on and off the field. Our preparation was good. We had two days of training before this game against Bangladesh. We did field training together as a team, half an hour of focused catching and fielding.”“So I’m not going to say we’re not preparing well. We’re doing everything we can. It’s just one day at a time. Some days things work out, some days they don’t. That’s part of the game,” she said.