"Cricket is like a god", says Team India captain Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanapreet Kaur (Pic: File Pic)

Ahead of the Women's Asia Cup 2024 match against Nepal, Team India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that cricket is like a "god" to her because it has given her everything.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will aim for a hat-trick of wins when they lock horns with Nepal in their third Women's Asia Cup 2024 match. With two straight wins, Team India is enjoying the top spot of Group A and is in the race for the semi-final qualification spot.

This will be their last group stage and earlier the "Women in Blue" secured victories against Pakistan and UAE.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, Harmanpreet said, "Cricket, I think, is everything to me. Without cricket, I do not think I would be anything. The name that cricket has given me, no other field could have given it to me. So I think, for me, cricket is like a god. Whatever I dreamt of in my childhood, whatever I dreamt of while playing, everything has been given to me by cricket."

Going down memory lane, Harmanpreet Kaur stated that donning the Indian jersey for the first time, she was confused about whether she should share the image with her parents or coach.

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"I can say that off-field, when I held the Indian jersey for the first time, I took a photo after wearing it for the first time, and I was just thinking about who deserves this photo first. Should I send it to my parents, or the coach who gave me this platform, who gave me admission to his school, and said, 'I will start cricket in school for you,' should I send it to him? So I was so confused, who should I send first, because both were equally important to me," said the skipper.

On her favourite moment on the field, Kaur said that her knock of 171' in 115 balls against Australia in the semifinal of 2017 ICC Women's World Cup stands out to her.

"On the field, in 2017, when I scored 171, that was something. I remember before that game, one of my friends told me, 'We will win tomorrow only if you score 150 runs.' I said, '150 runs? I have heard that you will score 100 runs, you will win tomorrow. 150, I mean, what is this demand, right? I will have to score 150 runs to win tomorrow.' So that was stuck in my head for the whole night, and I kept thinking, 'It is the Australian team, so I will have to play something different to beat them,' because they had such a strong team. So I think that was very special for me," recalled Harmanpreet.

Speaking about Team India's journey, Harmanpreet Kaur said that over last seven to eight years, the team's performance has been very good. Earlier the side was not able to win so many tournaments and play the kind of cricket they're playing now.

"So we always discuss that if there are two options, we will always choose the aggressive option. Before, it felt like we were playing timidly. When things did not go according to our plan, we used to get scared very quickly, but now we play a little brave cricket, so we make brave decisions. With time, we have forced people to come to the stadium through our performance," she concluded.

(With ANI Inputs)i