Harmanpreet Kaur led India were outplayed and outclassed in front of a packed MCG by rampant Australia and faced a humiliating defeat of 85 runs. Dropped catches by Shafali Verma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad saw Australia’s openers Alyssa Healy (75) and Beth Mooney (78*) to add more than 100 runs in the opening partnership as they powered the side to a huge total of 184/4.
“The way we played in the league stages, it was outstanding. It was unfortunate to drop those catches today. I still have a lot of faith in my team and the next one and half years is important,” Harmanpreet said in the post-match presentation. “We need to stay calm and focus on the areas we need to improve, especially the fielding. We know we weren’t able to win the game because of our fielding. We need to keep these things in mind.”
“The future is great for us. We need to trust ourselves. I trust this team. The first game was very good, it gave us a lot of confidence. We have to keep working hard. We are in the right line, every year we are improving. We just need to think of how we are going to play with more focus in big games, because sometimes, we are not able to give our best in important games,” Kaur added.
However, Harmanpreet Kaur expressed her desire to have more matches throughout the year.
“This year we are hoping for some more games in the Women’s T20 Challenge. That tournament is very important for our domestic cricket and we got two players from there. Hopefully, we do get more players so that they can contribute to the team,” she shared.
However, Harmanpreet Kaur thinks Shafali Verma will learn from her setbacks.
“She’s only 16, she’s playing her first World Cup. She did really, really well and performed for us,” said Kaur. “For a 16-year-old kid, it’s difficult to keep thinking positively and stay in the game. It’s a learning lesson for her but it could happen to anyone. We can’t blame her because there were others also in her position.”
“We gave chances to batters in great form and it’s difficult for bowlers to come back when that happens. We weren’t feeling under pressure but unfortunately we were unable to create those chances. It’s a lesson for all of us, we have to be at 100 percent when we’re fielding because that’s the most important part of cricket,” she shared.
