Every league game is important – Harmanpreet Kaur on India’s massive win against Pakistan

India secured a monumental win against Pakistan in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup as an all-round performance blew the latter into smithereens. Harmanpreet Kaur played an important knock of 36 from just 35 balls, hitting four fours.

Kaur walked out to bat when India found themselves in early trouble. She played a crucial role in shaping the game's outcome, adding 91 runs for the third wicket alongside Smriti Mandhana. Talking at the post-match presentation, Kaur opened up on Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma coming together and doing their absolute best. She also underlined the importance of Richa Ghosh in the line-up.

Kaur started with a message for the Indian fans, stating, “Yeah, definitely. Very happy and firstly, I want to thank all Indian fans. They've been amazing. They've been there for us. So, we really, really want to thank them.”

Shedding light on the seasoned duo of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma rising to the occasion, Kaur added, “Whenever we need, they're always there to push the team. So, really happy the way they both played today.’

Explaining the conditions, Harmanpreet said, “Well, I think it was a decent pitch, but I think initially we unnecessarily put pressure on us. But after that, when Smriti and I was batting, we tried to control the game and then we got what we wanted.”

Heaping special praise on Richa Ghosh, Kaur added, “If it's in my hand, I would love to send her on the first ball. But I think she has some role to play and she's doing really well and really happy the way she played today.”

Reflecting on India's improving fielding as the game went on, Harmanpreet said, “Cricket is a game where if you catch every ball, if you take all the catches, you always win matches. And I think that's what happened while fielding. We wanted to give ourselves to every ball and really happy with the way we fielded and overall game.”

She concluded by talking about the big win and how that can propel India’s NRR which might be a good thing, stating, “Every league game is important and really happy how we win today because that is something, which is going to help us [at the] end of the league games.”