Harmanpreet Kaur Justifies India's Long Break After World Cup Heroics

Indian women team’s performance in last year’s World Cup was nothing less than phenomenal. No one had given even an outside chance to the Women in Blue, who had played the qualifiers, to make it to the final of the just-concluded tournament. However, the ladies defied all odds and exceeded all the expectations, as they defeated the likes of England, New Zealand and Australia to make it to the title-decider, where they lost by just nine runs.

The stunning performance from Mithali Raj & Co. had left everyone pleasantly surprised as the women reaped the rewards for their valiant effort. They were lavished with praise from all the quarters in addition to being flooded with prizes from the BCCI to state governments and other parties. The performance in the World Cup also raised hopes that the women’s game will finally get its due in the country. But surprisingly the women’s team is yet to play a single international game since the World Cup final on July 23, 2017.

But while many feel that the women’s team should have played few games to capitalise on their form, Harmanpreet Kaur feels otherwise. The vice-captain of the team, who had played a stunning 171-run knock in the semifinal against Australia, said the team badly needed the break after a hectic phase.

“Before the World Cup, we were involved in back-to-back series and we did not get a break, so many girls were carrying niggles. Even I was injured, and we needed a break. I understand, had there been one or two series after the momentum we gathered through our World Cup campaign, that, too, would have been good. But the break that the BCCI gave us, I feel it was important for us,” she said.

India’s first assignment after the world cup will be the challenging tour to South Africa. Mithali Raj & Co. will take on the hosts in three ODIs and five T20Is, starting from February 5.

Speaking about the tour, Harmanpreet admitted that it would be ‘very challenging’ and is hopeful that the warm-up games will help the team prepare for the series.

“I think the tour will be very challenging for us. At the [ongoing] camp, we have been trying a few things because after the 50-over matches, we’ll be playing the T20Is. We have two-three youngsters in the side; for them this is a good starting point. Otherwise, more or less everybody’s had a decent domestic season. We have a couple of practice matches there before the series gets underway. So those two matches are also going to help us get in our preparations,” she said.

“After the World Cup, we had a couple of camps at the NCA. These camps have been good for us. The team has been getting along really well, hopefully we’ll be able to do well in South Africa as well,” she added.

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