‘This is cinema’. If you’re a regular on social media platforms, the monochrome Martin Scorsese image with his hands up in silent approval might be something you’ve seen.
This meme perfectly embodies the drama of the rivalry between Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur and her Australian counterpart Alyssa Healy.
Takes two to tango
Let’s go back to February of this year. Chasing 173 to win in the T20 World Cup semifinal in Cape Town, Harmanpreet was batting on a gritty 33-ball 52. Georgia Wareham bowled full on the off stump and Harmanpreet got down to sweep along the ground. Beth Mooney dove to stop the ball in the deep and threw to Healy at the stumps who took off the bails in a split second. Collective gasps echoed through the stadium as it appeared that the Indian captain had not made it back in time, an unfortunate turn of events replays confirmed, with Harmanpreet’s bat getting stuck while she tried to drag it back. OUT.
Australia edged India by five runs to make the final, something that had already left Indian fans heartbroken. But Healy’s take on the incident a few minutes after the knockout clash rubbed salt in the Indian wounds.
“I mean Harmanpreet can say all she likes that it was so unlucky, but I mean at the end of the day she cruised back and probably could have passed the crease, you know, an extra two metres if she genuinely put in the effort. So we’ll take it,” Healy said in a video posted by ABC Sport.
Point to Healy.
December 2023. India hosted Australia in a Test match after emphatically demolishing England in the same format a few days prior. Healy’s Australia was on the backfoot throughout the game. Looking to set India a competitive target, Healy and her vice captain Tahlia McGrath were going strong. Harmanpreet brought herself into the attack and removed McGrath in her first over. Four overs later, she tried to rattle Healy, who was looking dangerous and more importantly batting overs out and frustrating the Indian attack. Harmanpreet first went full, which Healy negotiated back in her direction. The Indian captain collected the ball and aggressively fired it back in Healy’s direction who blocked it with her bat, with the ball running down to deep third for four. Harmanpreet was livid and looked in disbelief at the umpire, appealing for field obstruction.
Healy’s act in defence was deemed non-malicious and Harmanpreet was denied but the proceedings succeeded in shaking Healy’s focus. She fell leg before to Harmanpreet off the very next bowl, with the latter staring her opposite number down as she took the long walk to the pavilion.
Point to Harmanpreet.
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The big picture
“This is what happens when Australia plays India,” Healy later said, brushing off talks of a rivalry between the duo. This even though there was a slightly frosty handshake shared between the two when India sealed victory.
Healy and Harmanpreet have more in common than what meets the eye. The first unifier is spirit. “I think that we’re just two cricketers going at it. That’s the way that I’d sum it up. She’s obviously a passionate cricketer, so am I,” Healy described.
The competition was restricted to the field. Alyssa Healy took a photograph of the victorious Indian team after losing to the side in the one-off Test match at the Wankhede Stadium. | Photo Credit: BCCI
Second is opportunity. Harmanpreet has been donning the leadership hat for a few years now but her career as a leader began under the shadow of Indian legend Mithali Raj. Healy, whose full-time captaincy career began with the Test loss to India, is also dealing with the challenges of a similar larger-than-life figure she finds herself following, the most successful captain in the history of the women’s game - Meg Lanning.
In the women’s vertical in cricket, India, England and Australia are evident superpowers evidenced by their rise and cyclical alternation between dominance and challenge. However, if you condense these sides down to the people who lead them, Heather Knight’s hot and cold personal form internationally has allowed Healy and Harmanpreet to move one step forward and spar between themselves for supremacy, given the zing they bring into the flavours of their respective teams.
The big three - are Harmanpreet Kaur and Alyssa Healy pushing ahead of Heather Knight in the tussle for global supremacy?
Two sides of a coin
Healy and Harmanpreet are cut from the same cloth but whose shades appear differently in the light. The latter has been known for her penchant to go all out in attack, something that set her apart from a classical conservativeness that Mithali was often known for. Healy is no different, something that comes through in how happy she is to get into the mind of her opponents from behind the stumps. However, she finds herself surrounded by mercurial characters, often mandating her to be the calm one. The image of her asking Grace Harris to calm down during the Women’s Premier League comes to mind.
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These different and ever evolving approaches to leadership, teams that are stacked with generational talents and a certain bloodlust give this Indo-Aussie a space of its own in women’s cricket. Australia has been India’s hardest hurdle many a time - be it in the T20 World Cup in 2020, the T20 World Cup in 2022 or even the Commonwealth Games. India and Harmanpreet know what it feels like to be denied.
On the other hand, Healy comes in with an overflowing trophy cabinet begging her to keep the supply of silverware coming. For a transitioning leadership setup, that is easier said than done. However, Healy is the master of optics. Her wit and wisecracks in pre-match pressers help her get into the mind of her adversaries, an itch Indian fans have often found themselves compulsively scratching.
The end product of this tussle is a rivalry that makes you watch from the edge of your seat, that makes you argue in your cricket watchalong groups, that makes you excited for an evolving game that’s seeking to match the men’s variant toe to toe.
With two ICC tournaments coming up in two years – the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and the ODI World Cup in India – the Healy vs Harmanpreet tug of war might be just what the post-Lanning era needs. After one team swept every trophy there is to win, there is now a worthy challenger with a general who wants nothing but victory.
Grab your popcorn and gear up for the ride!
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