For the most part, India’s attention is focused solely on men's cricket. Women's cricket routinely gets short shrift… until our women in blue do something extraordinary that forces people to pay attention; as run-machine Harmanpreet Kaur did. She is India’s current captain and one of our most talented and prolific batters with many records to her name. And now there is a new one:
She is only the third woman to hit a century in the shortest format of the game. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur sped to her 100 off just 51 balls and got her team to an impressive 194 for five against New Zealand. This was the opening match of the World T20 in Guyana.
Impressed with her batting pyrotechnics, Twitter went crazy thinking up hashtags for the Indian captain. Struggling with stomach cramps, she couldn’t run the twos and threes. Her “monstrous display of timing and power hitting” earned her some amusing nicknames. #Harmonster and Dirty Harry were among those.
Though former captain Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami have been better known, now Harmanpreet's talent and pluck are ensuring that she is earning fans all over the world.
Her stellar knock was largely responsible for the team’s win over New Zealand. As captain she certainly led from the front.
That women's cricket is the impoverished cousin of men's cricket is undeniable. It takes audacious hitting like this to make people sit up and take notice of women's cricket.
There was a time when we saw only boundaries in women's cricket. The odd heave over the fence would be the result of a lucky slog. But Harmanpreet produces shots that stun the cricket loving world; with precision, timing and strength.
While Harmanpreet's knock earned her plaudits from across the world, cricket lovers in India were particularly ecstatic.
The women in blue went up against the women's team from Pakistan on 11 November and proceeded to defeat them as well; winning by 7 wickets.
Former captain and Player of the Match in the match against Pakistan on Sunday, Mithali Raj certainly seems to think so! She was speaking after receiving her player of the match award for her 47-ball 56 when she said that she saw women's league to be a distinct possibility. But will the board think so? Will franchisees come forward? That remains to be seen.
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