CWG 2022 gold can change a lot of things for women’s cricket in India – Harmanpreet Kaur
Indian women’s cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur says that playing gold medal at the Commonwealth Games means a lot and a favorable result can change a lot of things for women’s cricket in India.
After India’s four-run victory in the nail-biting semi-final against England at Edgbaston on Saturday, Harmanpreet, now all-format skipper for India says the result was possible because the players had an immense self-belief and they never give up.
For the record, India marked its first victory in a knockout game in a T20I competition outside of the Asia Cup.
“It means a lot for us, we’ve been working hard for so long,”
Harmanpreet said.
“This is a great platform for us. Participating for the first time [in the CWG], if we can do well [in the final], a lot of things can change for us.
“We never thought or wondered what we are playing for and what we aren’t playing for. [Gold] medal coming or not coming isn’t in our hands. We just want to play well. The way we’ve played so far, we’ve learned a lot.”
At one stage, England required only 33 off 24 balls with seven wickets in hand. It looked as if the momentum was shifted from India. But the spinners, Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana delivered just when the team needed them.
For the skipper, it was all about the right energy on the field, especially under pressure was the real task.
“Until the last moment, we believed we could win, even though they had a couple of strong partnerships,”
she said.
“Even when they were going well, no one gave up. We’ve been working on this for a while. If you keep doing this, results will come at some point along the way, and I’m glad it is showing now.
“It was an important match. It feels good that everyone stepped up to their responsibilities with the bat, ball, and on the field. All of them must remain together in such matches. In the last over, if you see, our fast fielders took the responsibility of fielding in the deep. That shows how keen you are to do well for the team.”
Harmanpreet added that the reason why India has become a serious contender in the global titles even if they haven’t won any is just that they have embraced the pressure and are not being intimidated at bigger stages.
“I’m a great fan of knowing how other teams are doing,”
she said.
“If you’re aware of it, you can plan. We need someone who can help us like that and I’m happy it’s working for us.”
It was also part of the plan on Saturday’s game that Indian bowlers took the pace off the ball against England in the middle overs and secondly the decision to introduce Shafali Verma in the 11th over with England needing 79 off 60 balls was also a crucial move.
Earlier, Indian bowlers were not taken seriously and the skipper knew that introducing herself would not count much given that India had already used two spinners in Deepti and Rana.
“When we brought her [Verma] in, there were two offspinners bowling,”
Harmanpreet explained.
“If we would have brought in a third [offspinner], it would have been easy for England. Shafali mixes it up well, she is always keen to bowl. You need someone who enjoys bowling and wants the ball in tough situations.
“Whenever I ask her if she wants to bowl, she gets excited. Under pressure, sometimes, a bowler may not be able to give it their best, but her excitement motivates the others too. It sends out a message that if someone who isn’t a regular bowler is so keen to bowl and make a difference, it gives extra responsibility to the [main] bowlers.”
While batting, Harmanpreet says the plan was to go big in the power play to try and take England by surprise. Smriti Mandhana took the charge which came out 23 balls fifty, the fastest for India in the T20Is, helped India massively, and their fifty came just in 4.3 overs, the quickest for them in the format.
“The reason why we batted [after winning the toss] is we wanted to dominate in the first six,”
Harmanpreet said.
“We were ready to lose one wicket, but we needed to utilize the first six overs on a fresh wicket. The way Smriti batted was outstanding to watch. We were looking for more than 150. In games like these, you need to have [a big] total on the board.
“Smriti is someone who is keen to do well for the team always. That innings charged us up, and when the opponent’s body language is down, we could utilize those moments. Also, the way Jemi [Jemimah Rodrigues, who made 44 not out off 31 balls] batted was outstanding. We needed someone who could finish and it was great that she was there till the last ball.”