India women’s white-ball captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who named the player of the series for her performance in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, admitted that sometimes she has gone through difficult phase but trying to enjoy every moment is important.
Kaur has been in incredible form this year following a couple of tough years in international cricket. She believes trying to enjoy every moment on the field is the key and admitted that she hasn’t felt good sometimes due to taking a lot of pressure.
“For me, it’s always important that I should enjoy each and every moment. Sometime in between, I was not enjoying it because sometimes you take a lot of pressure – it happens with anyone. Whatever the situation, I’ll try to stay there and give the start the team needs,”
she said.
The 33-year-old had a fantastic campaign in the ODI World Cup earlier this year and followed it up with a brilliant T20 Challenge tournament. Kaur carried that form on the tour of Sri Lanka, playing a crucial role in India’s 2-1 victory in T20Is and a 3-0 clean sweep in the ODI series.
She scored 92 runs in three T20Is and then piled up 119 runs and in two ODIs. Her 88-ball 75 in the third match was her fifth score of 50-plus in the format this year. Her numbers this year read 533 runs from 13 innings at an average of 44.41.
Apart from her batting, Kaur has been enjoying the freedom she has been given with the ball. She has been bowling more regularly and picked three wickets on the Sri Lanka tour.
“Before we came here, I had a self-talk that I have to give my 100% and it was important that I get runs in this series. I’m very happy I got wickets also because I want to bowl and I was always keen to bowl. I was really happy that I was able to do both things,”
she added.
India’s next challenge will be the T20 competition in Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, starting on July 28.
