The final leg of India’s England tour was initially looked upon as a farewell series for veteran Jhulan Goswami. After representing the country for 20 long years, she was all set for the final hurrah at the Mecca of Cricket – Lord’s. However, by the end of the three-match ODI series, the focus shifted entirely on Deepti Sharma and captain Harmanpreet Kaur with Goswami’s farewell pushed aside as a side note.
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Goswami’s last game at Lord’s will always be remembered for Sharma running Charlotte Dean out at the non-striker’s end when England needed just 17 runs to win. Whatever the Indian team had done was well within the ICC’s set of rules. The incident created a furore with a majority of the English cricket fraternity invoking the spirit of the game to discredit a legal form of dismissal, disregarding the fact that the batter Dean’s own action of repeatedly gaining an unfair advantage by stepping out of the non-striker’s crease before the bowler had delivered the ball throughout the match, too was against the spirit of the game.
And amidst the joy of India registering their first-ever series win on English soil, captain Harmanpreet rightfully defended her teammate Deepti, lauding her awareness and underlining that Dean was getting out of the crease repeatedly.
“I thought you will ask about all the 10 wickets which were not easy to take as well. It’s part of the game I don’t think we have done something new," the Indian skipper said at the post-match show after collecting the ‘Player of the series Award’.
Her statement just reflected upon her bravery as a captain, something which is being seen in her performance as well. She was absolutely ferocious with the bat in her hand against the English girls. Barring the final ODI, she scored runs in plenty. She got an unbeaten 74 off 94 balls in the series opener and followed it up with a 111-ball 143 not-out in the second face-off. She was out for 4 at Lord’s but managed to end the series as the highest scorer with 221 runs in her kitty.
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Following an enthusiastic series, Harmanpreet & Co will now be heading into the Women’s Asia Cup 2022 in Bangladesh, starting Saturday. Ahead of their campaign opener against Sri Lanka, she was asked, in the pre-match presser, about the reason behind the change in her batting approach.
Harmanpreet said, “It is all about taking responsibility. Ever since I started playing the game, I have enjoyed taking on responsibilities. Currently, I’m leading the Indian team which, I guess, is the biggest onus a player can have and I’m cherishing it every moment. In addition, I’m getting backed by my teammates, the support staff and the BCCI. When you work as a team, the results achieved are always positive."
“When you have ample support, you just need to focus on the performance and the same thing has been conveyed to other players of the team as well," she added.
It was only the support she got from her team members that made her face the unwanted consequences of Dean’s run-out without a wrinkle on her forehead. Be it in England or in Bangladesh, she crossed every hurdle smartly and answered every query then and there.
“We were noticing Charlie Dean was getting out from the crease in the last couple of games. She was taking the long strides outside the popping crease and was taking undue advantage," Harmanpreet said at the presser ahead of India’s first match of the Women’s Asia Cup against Sri Lanka.
Most of us have known by now that Harmanpreet isn’t going to back away, no matter what the situation is. Her temperament and wisdom make her an outstanding cricketer and her rival-cum-friend, England’s Kate Cross believes the same.
In an exclusive conversation with News18 Cricketnext, Kate was all praise for the Indian captain, explaining what kind of a person Harmanpreet is.
“I got an opportunity to play with Harman for a few seasons back in England when she comes plays our franchise cricket. We have always got on so well. We bonded over the fact that we both look like sisters. Everyone thinks we look alike. So, that was what initially bonded us," Kate told News18 Cricket Next.
“She is a very humble character, very hardworking, and a bit of a perfectionist in the way she trains, which obviously goes into the matches, and you can see how she plays.
“She is a wonderful player. I’ve seen her taking games away from people. I think she’s got a lot of skills and I’ve seen that come out with her captaincy as well. I’ve played against her as a captain in the Women’s T20 challenge back in March. It’s quite difficult when you don’t know all your players and you don’t play together a lot. I thought she handled her team very well," Kate concluded.
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