Trust their plans and trust themselves – Harmanpreet Kaur on India’s journey in the Women’s Asia Cup

Team India called the shots emphatically as they thumped Pakistan in their final group stage battle in the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup. It was a clinical show from the bowlers that bowled out Pakistan for 55 before Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma got the job done for Team India with the bat.

Kaur stayed unbeaten for 18, effacing any possible fear of a collapse after India lost three early wickets in the chase. Talking in a video released by BCCI, Harman opened up on the specialty of the tournament while also shedding light on the journey of leading India in 150 WT20I games.

Talking about India’s journey, Kaur said, “I think next two games are very important for us, and (we will be taking) one game at a time. Next game is very important, and hopefully we'll continue the way, you know, we have been performing well in this tournament, and I think that momentum is very important now, trusting ourselves, trusting our plans, and just going, you know, like the way we have been batting and bowling during the league stage.”

Explaining India’s heroics in the tournament so far, Kaur added, “I think first game Shafali’s (Verma) batting, the way she was hitting the ball. Second game, Smriti’s (Mandhana) hundred, you know, the way she was batting, outstanding to watch. Today (in the clash against Pakistan) our bowlers took the challenge. They just need to trust their plans and trust themselves and execute whenever the team needed. So yeah, I mean, good overall performance for everyone, and now the semis are there, the finals are there. I think we just need to keep doing the hard work again and again.”

Reflecting on her odyssey of leading Team India in 150 WT20I games, Kaur said, “Great feeling. Never thought I'll come that far. I think I would like to give credit to my teammates, BCCI, support staff, my family members, my parents. I think they've been my biggest strength, and hopefully keep doing the hard work for many more years and keep working hard whenever team needs.”