Prime Minister Narendra Modi Praises Harleen Deol For Her "Phenomenal" Catch At The Boundary Line Against England

Narendra Modi, India‘s Prime Minister, has lauded Harleen Deol for her jaw-dropping catch in the first T20I against England in Northampton on Friday. Harleen Deol caught the attention of the world as she produced an all-time great catch at the boundary line.

The 23-year-old from Chandigarh sent England batter Amy Jones back to the dugout with an incredible effort on either side of the boundary rope. Jones skipped down a couple of steps in order to launch Pandey over wide long-off where the fielder was positioned.

The ball seemed to sail over the fielder for a maximum – but was stopped in its way by Harleen Deol. With a little jump in the air, the youngster first reverse-cupped the ball above her head. Realizing that her body was about to fall over the boundary line, she threw it back in the air and then went over the rope.

A few steps behind the boundary line, Harleen Deol observed the airborne ball; she pulled herself off the ground, diving inside the playing area to grab it again with her body almost horizontal in the wind.

PM Narendra Modi took to his Instagram and uploaded a story hailing Harleen Deol’s “Phenomenal” take.

Definitely one of the best catches I’ve ever seen: Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s T20I captain, said Harleen Deol’s catch was one of the best she has ever seen. She credited fielding coach Abhay Sharma for the team’s renewed focus on fielding.

“Yes, definitely [it’s one of the best catches I’ve ever seen]. We are working a lot on our fielding department and I’m really happy the way we fielded yesterday. It’s a great positive I can see in the game. It was a great effort from her. Credit goes to all our support staff and our team members who are putting efforts during our fielding sessions.

“Abhay [Sharma] sir, has been working with us for a while now. The little differences in awareness we have seen in our fielding – we had been putting a fair bit of effort earlier too – the small adjustments he has been making in every player’s fielding, focusing on individual fielding sessions [has been paying off].

A fantastic piece of fielding ?

We finish our innings on 177/7

Scorecard & Videos: https://t.co/oG3JwmemFp#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/62hFjTsULJ

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 9, 2021

India, however, lost the game by 18 runs as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series. The second game is slated for Sunday in Hove.

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