Harmanpreet Kaur’s Strategy: Rotating Strike for Team’s Benefit

In the women’s Asia Cup held here on Sunday, India overcame a precarious position to record a match-winning 201 for five against UAE. She opened the innings with a magnificent fifty, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur stated her focus was on “rotating the strike”.

After India was reduced to 52 for 3, they were in serious trouble. However, Kaur (66 off 47 balls) formed two vital partnerships, adding 14 runs off of 39 balls with Jemimah Rodrigues and 64 runs off of 45 balls with Richa Ghosh, to put India in a dominant position.

UAE could only muster 123 for 7 in response.

“It is a great feeling. When Jemi and I were batting, we spoke that we had to run hard rather than just going for risky shots. Our focus was on getting 7-8 runs per over,” Kaur said after the match.

“When Richa came, I just told her to keep watching the ball and see how wicket is playing. She batted beautifully. My role was just to stay on the pitch and keep rotating strike. Whenever loose balls come, convert them to the boundary.”

India achieved their first-ever 200+ total in T20 cricket thanks to Ghosh’s 29-ball knock, even though Kaur performed the role of the anchor to perfection.

“Credit to Richa. Because of her we reached the target … today also we lost early wickets but we kept ourselves ready.”

After scoring a 29-ball, undefeated 64, Richa Ghosh—who was named the game’s MVP—praised Kaur for putting her in the middle of the field and stated she simply trusted herself to take advantage of the situation.

“Whenever I am playing with Harry [Harmanpreet] di, she tells me how the ball is coming on and how to play the shots. Whenever I get the opportunity, I want to back myself,” she said.

“The first four from a cover drive was my favourite.”

UAE skipper Esha Rohit Oza said it was a learning experience for her team.

“It was a great experience, lots of learnings. How to build an innings, that is something we saw first hand, and how to finish games. This is what we need to work on.

When we played against a team that size, we were never satisfied. We must confirm that we require ten wickets, not just three. Against a superior team, we performed better. We intend to apply the lessons learned in this game to our next one.”

The post Harmanpreet Kaur’s Strategy: Rotating Strike for Team’s Benefit appeared first on Cricket Country.