Somewhere sport distills down to moments. Those moments that stay in the caverns of the brain for a long period of time. So, how would fans remember Harmanpreet Kaur, the India skipper? Unfortunately, for a cricket romantic, it could be a couple of heartbreaks. At the picturesque Cape Town, with the Table Mountain in the background, Harmanpreet’s bat struck in the pitch and she was run out in the T20 World Cup. Eventually, India lost by a narrow margin to Australia in the semi-final.
Intriguingly, the history seemed to be on a repeat mode as India locked horns against Australia in a 2024 T20 World Cup game in Sharjah. Once again Harmanpreet wasn’t in a mood to give up, despite India losing wickets at the other end. With one over to go, Harmanpreet was seen gasping for breath. Soon, Harmanpreet’s hopes of taking India to a win went up in smoke. And India’s chances of qualifying for the last-four now hang by a thread.
Now add the Commonwealth Games final to complete the set of Harmanpreet’s destiny with heartbreaks and gut-wrenching losses. Harmanpreet has played some sizzling knocks, including the believe-it-or-not 115-ball 171 versus Australia in the 2017 50-over World Cup. But it is those three games that serve as the enduring portraits of Harmanpreet’s noteworthy career.
The difference in approaches was stark as India’s safety-first approach was once again trumped by an aggressive Australian one. India’s T20 template needs a complete reset, maybe under a new leadership group.@BoriaMajumdar writes.#T20WomenWorldCuphttps://t.co/t2PrdZeJKs
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) October 14, 2024
That was about Harmanpreet’s batting. What about her captaincy? India came into the tournament after losing in the final of the Asia Cup. If India make a swift exit out of the group phase of the World Cup, there would be question marks over her leadership skills. Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana, her deputy, showed some flair as RCB’s captain this year. As a stand-in skipper in the India-Sri Lanka encounter, she yet again came across as an able leader.
Even in terms of tactical nous, a few of the jigsaws of Harmanpreet’s moves in the World Cup haven’t made much of a sense. In Sharjah, where spinners have had a massive role to play, India employed a pace bowler at one end for 15 out of 20 overs versus Australia. Basically, India weren’t able to put the squeeze on Australia for a major part of the innings. Interestingly, the last five overs were all bowled by the spinners.
In India’s opening fixture of the tournament, Deepti Sharma was smashed around by New Zealand’s batters. Harmanpreet still took the decision to complete Deepti’s quota of overs. On that day, Shreyanka Patil was the better bowler of the two but finished with one over short. In the same game, it was crystal clear from Brooke Halliday’s stance that her only go-to shots while facing spin were the sweep and reverse-hit. The Indian team, however, looked puzzled by Halliday’s strategy.
For a moment, yours truly pondered whether India have never seen Halliday’s scoring areas. In reality, she has played around 70 internationals for New Zealand. It isn’t just the tactical side of things as Harmanpreet has also come under scrutiny for her management skills.
In spite of certain shortcomings as a captain, Harmanpreet remains one of India’s best batters. Just that history may not be too kind on her. If India don’t progress to the semi-final, the walls of her home would seem empty – No photo frames of hoisting the World Cup trophy. At the age of 35, she doesn’t have much time to change her destiny.