India women’s cricket team captain Hermanpreet Kaur is under a lot of pressure due to her extended run of poor scores across all formats of the game. The skipper has been criticised for her questionable takes and on-field antics, more recently, due to her comments on 19-year-old Shreyanka Patil after India’s loss to Australia.
Harmanpreet’s numbers in her last few T20Is have been a horror show, which only adds to her list of problems. In her last five T20 international matches, she has not once reached the double-digit run mark.
Adding to her woes, Harmanpreet managed just 3 off 6 balls in Tuesday’s T20 series decider against Australia at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. After losing the toss and having to bat first, the India women set a target of 148 runs, which had an insignificant contribution from the Indian skipper.
HARMANPREET’S LAST 5 SCORES IN T20Is
- 3 vs Australia on January 9 in Navi Mumbai
- 6 vs Australia on January 7 in Navi Mumbai
- 6 not out vs England on December 10, 2023 in Mumbai
- 9 vs England on December 9, 2023 in Mumbai
- 26 vs England on December 6, 2023 in Mumbai
This fuels speculation on how much dependency the Indian squad can place on their skipper, who is currently experiencing a major dry spell with the bat. On the other hand, Harmanpreet’s performance in other formats of the game has not been promising either. In 2023, the most runs scored by Harmanpreet in her last four Test matches were 49 against England, and in ODIs, her highest score was 54 off 104 balls against Bangladesh.
Apart from her low run-scoring spree, Harmanpreet has been widely criticizsed for her approach on the field. Frequent squabbles with umpires and her regular outbursts at teammates have been a recurring issue with Harmanpreet’s game.
The Indian skipper faced widespread criticism when she name-dropped 19-year-old Shreyanka Patil for not being able to take wickets and seemingly pinning that as one of the reasons for the defeat against Australia in their second T20 game of the three-match series.
The troublesome stretch for Harmanpreet Kaur hints at major problems that the Indian Women’s cricket team will be looking to deal with in the T20 World Cup year.