Women's T20 World Cup: Letting go hard for Harmanpreet Kaur
Cape Town, February 24
The morale-shattering World Cup defeat is playing havoc with the mind of a crestfallen India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who doesn’t know when she will get over the loss.
Harmanpreet’s bat got stuck in the turf while trying to complete a second run during the semifinal against Australia on Thursday, and that proved to be the turning point of the game as the untimely dismissal of the skipper led to a five-run defeat.
“It is very difficult to control myself. I don’t know. Right now, I am sitting in a hangover,” said Harmanpreet, who wore dark shades to hide tears during the post-match presentation ceremony.
It has been a case of near misses for India, having narrowly lost the ODI World Cup final to England in 2017 and the CWG final to Australia in Birmingham in 2022.
No one knows the pain more than the skipper. “I don’t understand how it is going on. But after this, when we go to the room, we will know how many more days it will take. But I think we played good cricket. That’s all I can say,” she said.
Harmanpreet, who came into the match after spending time in a hospital due to an illness, scored a scintillating 52 off 34 balls to turn the tide in India’s favour. Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues then set it up nicely by adding 69 from 41 balls, but still the match slid out of their grasp at various points and ultimately out of reach.
The skipper didn’t take names but hoped the incoming batters had batted with responsibility and a positive approach once she got out.
“The moment I got out the momentum shifted from India to Australia. I personally felt it was a turning point. It is disappointing because we shouldn’t have lost like this. Because in the end, after coming so close, we could have batted with more responsibility and with a positive approach,” the skipper said. — PTI
India’s time will come, feels Jemimah
Cape Town: Jemimah Rodrigues is utterly disappointed after India’s semifinal exit from the Women’s T20 World Cup but the top-order batter is focusing on the positives. The Indian women’s team has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last few years, but a major trophy has eluded them. However, Rodrigues envisions her team dominating the game in the foreseeable future. “I think this team has been showing a lot of promise, we are pushing and pushing and we know something big is coming. What is in our hands is to keep working harder and keep trusting. We know when it’s our time, nobody can stop this team. This team is going to dominate for ages,” she said. Hailing the performances of youngsters like wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, Rodrigues said India will definitely upstage Australia in the near future. “The first one will be the rise of youngsters like Richa. This Indian team is searching for a finisher and she could be the one, and she is actually the one for us. This team shows a lot of promise. And if you see what the average age is — it’s around 24 — so I imagine that we’ll be giving this Australian team competition a few years down the line,” she said.
