NEWS
Follow UsThe Indian women’s cricket team secured a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham in a game that went right down the wire. Harmanpreet Kaur gave her best and set up the perfect platform to chase down the total but Australia made a stunning comeback at the end to complete their own trilogy of being 50-overs, 20-overs and CWG champions at the same time.
While Harmanpreet Kaur was hurting for failing to close the game despite coming this close, she, however, feels this the eventual outcome is still a big achievement enough to inspire young girls in the country.
"I'm happy and satisfied with the way we played throughout," Harmanpreet said. "I know we were close to winning gold, but all around our performance was great. This is the first time we got to play in this tournament and we're happy to have won a silver medal.
"A medal is something people back home will get inspired from and they could start playing cricket. As a team, we want to inspire young girls. Doing well on this platform will motivate a lot of people back home."
After India lost their openers early in the run-chase, Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues added 96 runs together and an Australian win seemed like an afterthought then. However, once Rodrigues back in the hut, Australia made a roaring comeback to send the remaining 8 Indian wickets for a mere 34 runs.
"After losing two crucial wickets, the way Jemi and I batted was much needed at that time. You need to hold your nerves. We were nearly there. Maybe if Pooja [Vastrakar] or I were around, we could've won the game. But that is part of the game; sometimes some things you can't control. It is great learning for us.
"I am someone who is always looking for one more batter on the side. Unfortunately, we're working on that. Once we get that, this thing will go away. Every time in big finals, we make the same mistakes again and again, that is something we have to improve. We don't make these mistakes in the league phase or in bilaterals. That is blocking our mind somewhere."
Interestingly, Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath was cleared to play the game despite testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. McGrath's latest tests returned positive, but Cricket Australia (CA) medical team at the Games in Birmingham gave her the clearance for her to play. India agreed with the decision.
"They informed us before the toss," she said. "That was something not in our control. The CWG had to make a decision and we were okay with it since she [Tahlia McGrath] wasn't very ill, so we decided to play. We had to show sportsmanship. I'm happy we didn't say no to Tahlia, it [missing the final] would've even been very hard-hitting for her."
