Indian T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that she wanted to take a break from the game after the controversy during World T20 last year. Kaur termed the controversy and its aftermath as ‘madness’ and described how it pushed her into suffering mentally.
The team management and Harmanpreet took a collective call to drop senior player Mithali Raj for the semifinal against England, in which India’s batting failed miserably. This cascaded into a massive controversy that led to divisions in the team and Coach Ramesh Powar got the sack. It dragged on from November to January when the new coach WV Raman took over the side for a tour to New Zealand.
Kaur twisted her ankle ahead of the first T20 International in New Zealand, but carried on playing in rest of the series. “Scans later revealed that there were some Level 1 and 2 ligament tears near the back of my ankle. I was at the National Cricket Academy from February 22 to April 9, and that break was a blessing in disguise for me,” she said.
“It [the injury] gave me a much needed break from international cricket and the Indian dressing room. I had almost made up my mind to let my parents know that I wanted to take a break,” she added.
She further added, “Agar khelke mazaa nahi aa raha hai [If I’m not enjoying the game] then I don’t want to block a place in the side, because money is not everything. Yes, we’ve only just started making some money from playing cricket, but if cricket is not giving me joy, I am happy to walk away rather than hold on to that spot just because I have a Grade A contract”.
“So all of these thoughts were bothering me a lot. Mentally I was unwell, unfit, but that injury bailed me out of that terrible head space”
‘Gully’ cricket player and close observer of Indian Cricket team and it’s matches. Straight forward and still socially admirable personality. Strong belief in teamwork and possess high leadership skills.