Harmanpreet Kaur didn’t hit a purple patch in the Women’s World Cup. Rather, the dashing Indian batswoman was largely in the shadow as her team-mates — Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj — kept it going for India.
But all those who know Harmanpreet were confident that the Punjab lass would strike back just when it matters the most. They were not wrong.
Coming out from the rough patch, Harmanpreet allowed her willow to do the talking on Thursday as India was reeling under pressure after losing Mandhana early in the semifinal.
As she went on hammering the Australian bowlers en route an unbeaten 171, she showed what it takes to lord over the opponent. She kept it simple, but the message was loud and clear — ‘Stop me, if you can’!
The Australians couldn’t.
Perhaps, she knew the Australian bowlers better than the most. Former India captain and national selector Shantha Rangaswamy, who has seen Harmanpreet from close quarters, believes that her stint with the Sydney Thunder at the Big Bash League helped. “It’s not for nothing that she did so well in Big Bash. She’s all too familiar with Australian bowling,” Rangaswamy told Sportstar .
In an interview with Sportstar earlier this year, Harmanpreet had admitted that playing in Australia changed her mindset. “Those days in Australia taught me a basic lesson — if you can adapt to the conditions, you can do anything. That’s what I believe these days,” she had pointed out.
With Indian eves clinching a nail-biting semifinal to storm into the final, the social media was abuzz with her feat, with everybody comparing her with Virat Kohli.
Harman, however, is a big admirer of Virender Sehwag.
In the interview earlier, she had even made it clear. “If you are talking about my favourite cricketer, then that has to be Virender Sehwag. Dhoni, Virat inspire me.... when the runs were drying up, I kept on thinking about how Viru paaji would have handled the pressure.”
Perhaps, that is what she kept in mind when she went out to bat on Thursday.
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