(PTI Photo)
Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of the Indian women’s team, emphasizes that adopting an aggressive approach has significantly paid off for the team. She believes that playing bold cricket and making courageous decisions have been key factors contributing to the team’s strong performances over the last seven years.
“In the last 7-8 years, our team’s performance has been very good,” Harmanpreet said on Star Sports. “Even before that, we used to play cricket, but we weren’t able to win so many tournaments, and we weren’t able to play such impressive cricket. So we always discuss that if there are two options, we will always choose the aggressive option.”
“Before, it felt like we were playing a little scared cricket. When things didn’t go according to our plan, we used to get scared very quickly, but now we play a little brave cricket, so we make brave decisions. With time, we have forced people to come to the stadium through our performance,” she added.
Harmanpreet expresses that cricket has fulfilled all her childhood dreams, likening the sport to a deity in her life.
“Cricket, I think, is everything to me. Without cricket, I don’t think I would be anything. The name that cricket has given me, no other field could have given it to me. So I think, for me, cricket is like a god. Whatever I dreamt of in my childhood, whatever I dreamt of while playing, everything has been given to me by cricket,” the 35-year-old said.
Harmanpreet reminisced about a moment of dilemma when she had to decide who should receive the first picture of her in the Indian jersey: her parents or the coach who paved the way for her cricketing journey.
“I can say off-field, when I held the Indian jersey for the first time, I took a photo after wearing it for the first time, and I was just thinking about who deserves this photo first. Should I send it to my parents, or the coach who gave me this platform, who gave me admission to his school, and said, ‘I will start cricket in school for you,’ should I send it to him? So I was so confused, who should I send first, because both were equally important to me,” she said.
Harmanpreet is currently leading India in the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup T20 in Sri Lanka, where the team aims to defend their title as champions.
