ICC T20 World Cup | India Need to Focus and Improve Fielding in the Future: Harmanpreet Kaur

Outplayed and outclassed in every department in front of a packed MCG by a dominant Australia, India-led by Harmanpreet Kaur were left to rue the missed chances in the field from earlier in the day which set the tone for an 85-run defeat.

Dropped catches by Shafali Verma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad allowed Australia’s openers Alyssa Healy (75) and Beth Mooney (78*) to bat their opposition out of the game as they powered the side to 184/4 in during their innings. And skipper Harmanpreet acknowledged that fielding was a big problem area for the team.

“The way we played in the league stages, it was outstanding. It was unfortunate to drop those catches today. I still have a lot of faith in my team and the next one and half years is important,” Harmanpreet said in the post-match presentation.

“We need to stay calm and focus on the areas we need to improve, especially the fielding. We know we weren’t able to win the game because of our fielding. We need to keep these things in mind.”

Nonetheless, a young Indian side remained unbeaten through the group stage with the youngsters coming up trumps in a tournament where seniors like Smriti Mandhana and the captain failed to get going.

“The future is great for us. We need to trust ourselves. I trust this team. The first game was very good, it gave us a lot of confidence.”

“We have to keep working hard. We are in the right line, every year we are improving. We just need to think of how we are going to play with more focus in big games, because sometimes, we are not able to give our best in important games.”

While understandably dejected to have lost the final of the T20 World Cup in such a crushing manner, Harmanpreet expressed a desire for more matches through the year.

“This year we are hoping for some more games in the Women’s T20 Challenge. That tournament is very important for our domestic cricket and we got two players from there. Hopefully, we do get more players so that they can contribute to the team.”