PLAYER DIARIES
Follow UsFebruary 23, 2023
India Women were cruising against Australia in the semi-final of the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. Needing 41 from 33 balls, India were the ‘hot favourites’ to topple the hot favourites. In their 69-run partnership, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues had absorbed the pressure of early wickets and shifted it back on Australia, who were staring at another semi-final exit at the expense of Harman’s willow.
And then Harman’s bat got stuck.
She had pasted the Aussies to a 32-ball fifty, having started the 15th over with back-to-back fours. Returning for a second run, she casually dragged her bat towards the crease, but before it could cross the line, the edge got stuck in the ground, giving Alyssa Healy enough time to run her out.
The debate is still on whether Harman was lazy. However, having batted for almost an hour, you expect any batter to trudge towards the crease when the ball is far away. She had been battling a high fever in the lead-up to the game, and it was vital for her to save energy for the final flourish. It is like your car breaking down despite you leaving on time to beat the traffic.
It would be harsh to blame the dismissal on Harman, but one that would have pinched her in the heart. The Indian skipper stood with her hands on her waist, ruing her bad luck, and threw the bat in anger while walking back, knowing the door was open for Australia to pounce on.
The chase fell apart and India lost by five runs. It was another missed opportunity for the Women in Blue who would have taken on the hosts South Africa in the final, but more importantly, having put Australia out of the way.
That was the last time Harman had batted in an ICC event game. You’d think, how much more can an individual take? In recent times, she has been part of a heart-breaking nine-run loss in the 2017 ODI World Cup, a campaign that was fuelled by her unbeaten 171 in the semi-final, a one-sided defeat in the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup, where she was the captain, a last-ball ouster against South Africa in the 2022 ODI World Cup, and then the aforementioned incident.
India also had to stay content with the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games Women's Cricket Competition, losing the Gold to Australia by nine runs. In that match, Harman was 65 off 43 balls when an attempted scoop ballooned up off her helmet for an easy catch behind the stumps. Another unfortunate dismissal at the most inopportune time.
She has been at the centre of the spotlight to clinch glory for India, a nation still waiting for its first major trophy in women’s cricket. Harman could have been India’s golden girl in cricket, with her name taken in the same breath as Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni or Yuvraj Singh. While she is one of the greatest women cricketers from India, the ‘so near yet so far’ narrative has surfaced too many times now in her career.
With the 2024 T20 World Cup approaching, Harman is most likely heading into her final ICC tournament as captain. She is 35, and there are multiple reasons to elevate Smriti Mandhana a step higher from vice-captaincy and for Harman to take the senior player’s role.
And that should induce the fire in her belly — to bring her World Cup career to fruition and end India’s WORLD CUP DROUGHT!
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Harman has been a brilliant World Cup player for India. She averages 51.5 in the ODI World Cup with three hundreds. She is also the only Indian batter to amass a ton in the Women’s T20 World Cup history.
The right-hander has carved her career out of stepping up on big occasions. She has decent numbers against the big women’s cricket players — Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand. However, she becomes a different beast facing them in ICC events.
The numbers against these teams matter, given the gulf between the top five teams and other sides in women’s cricket. Harman’s average of 74.1 here in the ODI World Cup is the highest for any batter against this pool. In the T20I events, her strike rate (143.7) is the highest for any batter (more than 150 runs) on this criteria.
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However, Harman’s strike rate has been a bit of an issue in this World Cup cycle (March 2023 to present). The veteran averages 28.3 but at a strike rate of only 116.5. It drops to 108.8 versus spin, the stronger suit of her batting.
Her biggest challenge would be at the start of her innings. The Punjab-born has batted at a strike rate of 83.3 in the first 10 balls in T20Is in 2024. It is the lowest ‘first 10 balls’ strike rate for her since 2016 and quite close to her other two unproductive years in 2019 (84.3) and 2020 (87.4). In the semi-final against Australia in 2023, Harman was 19 from her first 10 balls to set up the chase. Thus, the skipper would be keen to find rhythm early on whenever she walks out to bat.
The World Cup is in the UAE, and despite the recent drop in strike rate, she is ideal for tackling spin with her complete repertoire of sweep strokes. However, it would be equally important how she powers the ball down the ground, for Harman has the most appealing bat swing in women’s cricket.
India have a batting lineup without a defined number three but a powerful middle-order with Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh in form. Harman will be the link between them at number four, arguably the trickiest position to bat in T20Is. She has batted 107 innings at that position with no one else doing it even 70 times.
Harman was recently ignored at the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) player draft owing to her recent dip as a batter. Her only 50-plus score this year has come against the UAE Women in the Asia Cup. However, this could just be the ‘HarMonster’ hibernating, knowing that another shot at ultimate glory is up for grabs.
In the 2023 semi-final, Harman was only inches short of crossing the line when her bat got stuck in the ground, which has historically and synonymously been the distance between the Women in Blue and their first ICC trophy.
Can they cover that this time?
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