Harleen Deol publicly defies Abhishek Nayar after retired out humiliation in WPL, coach forced to respond

A dramatic moment in the ongoing Women's Premier League 2026 (WPL 2026) quickly turned into one of the most powerful comeback stories of the season, with Harleen Deol showing exactly what mental strength and confidence look like at the highest level.

On January 14, UP Warriorz coach Abhishek Nayar made a bold and controversial call during their WPL 2026 match against Delhi Capitals by retiring Harleen Deol. At that point, she was batting on 47 off 36 balls, scoring at a healthy strike rate of over 130.

Harleen Deol’s powerful WPL 2026 comeback after Abhishek Nayar's bold call

But Nayar and the team management felt the situation demanded more firepower in the final overs. The decision shocked many, as retiring a batter out is still rare in top-level cricket and can easily dent a player’s confidence. However, the very next day, Harleen responded in the strongest way possible.

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On January 15, the Indian batter played a stunning match-winning knock against the Mumbai Indians in the UP Warriorz’s next WPL 2026 clash. Harleen smashed 64 runs off just 39 balls at an impressive strike rate of over 164. Her innings helped UP Warriorz beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets to record their first win of the ongoing Women's Premier League 2026.

Instead of letting the previous day’s decision affect her, Harleen played freely and smartly. She timed the ball beautifully, picked her boundary options well, and looked completely in control. This knock also marked a stunning turnaround for the Indian star.

Harleen had struggled in the first two matches of the season, but the Delhi Capitals game, despite ending with her being retired out, helped her understand her game better.

Retired-out move gave me a lot of confidence: Harleen Deol

Harleen Deol said at the post-match presentation, “Nothing different [about my approach]. I just got a few boundary balls so I could convert them into boundaries. Sometimes it’s just your day—that wherever you are thinking to hit, the ball comes there. It was that for me.”

Harleen Deol explained, “Yesterday also I was batting well, but as you saw today, Chloe [Tryon] can change the scenario. For me, I just took it that way: Chloe is someone who can hit big. [Yesterday, that decision] probably didn’t go our way. There’s no point in just keeping stressing on that thing.

Honestly, yesterday gave me a lot of confidence, in fact, because the first two games didn’t go my way. I went on and figured out a few things. I was just trying to overhit. This wicket is not the kind that would reward overhitting; scoring requires more timing.”

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It was not spontaneous decision: Abhishek Nayar

Meanwhile, Abhishek Nayar later explained that the decision to retire Harleen Deol against Delhi was not sudden or emotional. The coach shared that the planning had already started around the 12th over of the innings. At that stage, the team sent a message to Meg Lanning while she and Harleen Deol were batting, and the management began discussing when it would be the right time to bring in the power hitters.

After the timeout, Meg and Harleen tried to increase the scoring rate. By then, Harleen had already been informed that if the runs did not come faster by the 16th or 17th over, the team might retire her out, so it was not a shock decision for her and the team. He said that from the outside it may have looked sudden and confusing, but inside the team, the plan had been in place for a long time.

Nayar told media, “It wasn’t like a very spontaneous decision. That communication had started way before [we asked her to retire out]. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. In hindsight, the whole team felt like that was the right decision.

"So, there wasn’t much of a conversation post that because the buildup was already there. She knew what the team was doing. Post that, there was nothing actually. Because there was nothing wrong, or there was nothing that she didn’t expect was going to happen. She was told about that being a possibility if we get there.”