Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur joins the Elite list of players on her comeback game in the Asian Games.
India defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets in the first semi-final to book a place in the finals to contest for a gold medal in cricket. The Indian women’s team recently created history by winning their first-ever gold medal in women’s cricket in their first-ever attempt at the Asian Games. They defeated Sri Lanka by 19 runs, defending a total of 117 in the finals.
The left-handed opening batter Smriti Mandhana was the stand-in captain of the side in the first couple of games of their Asian Games campaign. She took over the leadership duties in the absence of their regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who missed out as she serving her suspension period. However, she returned to lead the Indian women’s team on a historic occasion for the Indian team.
It was also a special occasion for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, as she became the first Indian player in both, men’s and women’s cricket to captain India in 100 women’s T20I matches. She became only the second player to achieve this remarkable feat. The Australian women’s team skipper was the first one to get there. The Landmark occasion became even more special as it marked a memorable achievement for the Indian team as they capped off their Asian Games campaign by bagging the gold medal in women’s cricket.
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝟐𝟎𝐈 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧🫡
Harmanpreet Kaur and Meg Lanning, the only 2 cricketers (male or female) to achieve this feat 🙌#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/eaZ13kYeHx
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 26, 2023
She made her International debut on 7th March 2009 in an ODI against Pakistan. She made her captaincy debut in the T20I format on 31st October 2012 against Pakistan in the Women’s Asia Cup in China. Over the years, she has established herself as India’s most successful captain with an impressive win percentage of 57 in the T20I format as far as women’s cricket is concerned. Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana with around 54% is the next best for India after Harmanpreet Kaur.
One of the most memorable achievements under her leadership includes three Asia Cup titles (2012, 2016, and 2022), the home (2019) and away series (2018) victory against South Africa. India reached the semi-finals in the 2018 T20 World Cup in West Indies where they lost to England by eight wickets. India reached the finals in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
They were the silver medalists in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. They yet again reached the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, earlier this year. They lost to Australia in the semi-finals by the barest of margins. The historic gold medal victory in the ongoing Asian Games at Hangzhou in China was the recent addition to her glorious stint as the skipper of the women in blue.
She has scored over 2200 runs (2224) with a strike rate of 114.40 and an impressive average of 30.88. Her tally of runs includes nine half-centuries and a century as the skipper of the Indian team. Her best performance with the bat came against New Zealand in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in West Indies when she scored 103 runs at a humongous strike rate of 201.96. Her knock included seven boundaries and eight maximums. 53% of her runs came in the winning cause for India in the T20I format.
The Australian skipper Meg Lanning was the first one to complete over 100 games as the captain of Australia in the T20I format. She has an enormous win percentage of 76 in the T20I format. She made her captaincy debut on 31st Jan 2014 in the Women’s Ashes at home. Over the years, she has established herself as one of the most successful captains of Australia, especially in the limited-overs format.
The Australian women’s team witnessed a golden period under her leadership. Her achievements as a skipper include four ICC Women’s T20 World Cup titles (2014, 2018, 2020, 2023). Australia also clinched the gold medal by defeating India in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
She has scored over 2600 runs (2619) at a strike rate of 119.97 and an impressive average of 42.24. Her tally of runs includes 12 half-centuries and a couple of centuries as a skipper. Her best performance with the bat came against England in the Women’s Ashes in the year 2019 when she stayed unbeaten on 133, scoring at an impressive strike rate of 211. Her knock included 17 boundaries and seven maximums. Around 86% of her runs as the skipper came in the winning cause for Australia in the T20I format.