Harmanpreet Kaur, the well-known and powerful cricketer of Indian women’s team has been in focus since her stint in the World Cup in 207. She is an inspiration to many at present and budding female cricketers. The youngest T20I captain, ‘Harry’ as she is called by teammates, fought patriarchy society to rose above. Her story can be anything but not ordinary. She rose to glory with the stunning performance against Australia in World Cup which steered the Indian team into the final. However, later career got enrolled into various controversies including the infamous ‘Fake Degree’ and the recent one, the exclusion of Mithali Raj from T20 semi-final against England in West Indies.
For Harry, her journey towards becoming inspiring came into effect when she first made headlines for the performance against the Aussies. The innings was still regarded as the greatest ODI knock one have ever seen in women’s game. Her unbeaten 171 against the then World Champions Australia in crucial semis came at a time when leading batters of her side like Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana failed. She was hailed as ‘The Wall’ of her team.
Take a bow, @ImHarmanpreet 🙌
Mobbed by her teammates & rightly so, what an innings!#AUSvIND #WWC17 pic.twitter.com/xAOtu7J4WQ
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 20, 2017
Soon after her brutal performance against the Aussies, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh offered her the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the state police. When the Arjuna Awardee submitted her graduation degree, the police department got it verified only to find that the enrolment no mentioned in the final list doesn’t exist. This created huge controversy after which Harmanpreet was demoted from her position as DSP to Constable’s post. But this wasn’t stopped here as one of the biggest dispute of her career was about to happen.
World T20 Cup in West Indies
Indian women’s national team captain Mithali Raj and star all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur at a felicitating event. PTI Photo by Subhav Shukla
Despite failing to win the 50-over World Cup trophy, fans were rooting for the side to get the World T20 which happened in West Indies. The Women in Blue already impressed fans with their performance and many believed that Women’s team will get their hands on their maiden ICC trophy at the event. However, the team was ruled out after facing defeat at the hands of England women in the semis.
This match created a huge stir as experienced Mithali Raj, the most experienced player in the team, was not selected for the crucial semi-final. Harmanpreet found herself in centre of the controversy with most of them taking Raj’s side. After the match, Harmanpreet justified the selection saying, she has ‘no regrets’.
Mithali’s sub cost huge to the team as they lost to the World Champions ending fans’ hoping of getting first-ever women’s World Cup.