India’s dependable spinner Poonam Yadav said that a stinging rebuke from Harmanpreet Kaur on the opening night helped her doing well in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. Poonam has been in formidable form throughout the tournament and helped India reach to Sunday’s Final against Australia.

“Harmanpreet has been of immense support,” said Poonam. “When I got hit for a six in the first over, she came to me and said, ‘Poonam, you’re one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better of you.’

“So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should be able to make a comeback. I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn’t look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the Final,” she added.

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Later in that nail-biting opener at Sydney Showground, she was on the verge of a whisker of the third hat-trick in Women’s T20 World Cup history, cleaning up Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry before Jess Jonassen was dropped. Poonam Yadav, however, revealed that she spent her time on the sidelines studying top batters and surgically analysing their weaknesses which helped her to perform well for India throughout the series and took India to their first-ever T20 World Cup final.

“I had not even played the tri-series, so thanks to the selectors for showing faith in me,” she said. “When I was on the sidelines, I worked quite hard knowing the quality of competition in the World Cup. So, I would watch a lot of videos of the Australian and the England teams and tried to find out their weaknesses. My preparation that way was good, so despite the pressure, the nerves I was able to do well.”