She bats like Virender Sehwag and is aggressive like Virat Kohli, says Harmanpreet's sister

She bats like Virender Sehwag and is aggressive like Virat Kohli, says Harmanpreet's sister

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Written by: SportsCafe Desk

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After Harmanpreet Kaur’s spectacular innings, 171 runs off just 115 balls, led India to the World Cup final, her sister has compared her to the likes of Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli. While stating that Harmanpreet had the attitude of Kohli, she compared the 28-year-old's batting style to Sehwag.

Harmanpreet Kaur chose a stage as big as the semifinal and a team as mighty as six-time champions Australia to produce arguably the greatest innings by an Indian woman cricketer helping India reach the final of the World Cup after a gap of 12 years. Her first 50 runs in the innings came off 64 balls while the next one came off just 26 deliveries. She only took 25 balls to get her last 71 runs and powered India to a commanding total of 281/4 in the semifinal in Derby.

Watching the innings of such sublime ferocity, it was bound to trigger memories of former India opener Virender Sehwag, who used to entertain his fans with such audacious knocks in his heyday. Kaur’s sister, Hemjit Kaur, was quick to reveal that Harmanpreet always wanted to bat like Sehwag, but has the aggressive attitude of current Indian skipper Virat Kohli. 

“Harman is always positive. On field, she always behaves like Virat Kohli and is aggressive like him. However, off-field, she is quite calm and composed. Right from her early days, she treated Virender Sehwag as her batting idol and even bats like him,” said Harmanpreet Kaur’s sister Hemjit to PTI after her sister’s match-winning knock.

The match was reduced to 42 overs due to heavy rain in Derby and had it not been for Kaur’s onslaught, that yielded India 139 runs in last 11 overs, India would have been posted a below par total for mighty Aussies to chase down. Hemjit, however, believes that her sister could have become the first Indian woman to score a double century had it been a 50-over contest.

“Had it not been a rain-shortened match, she would have scored a double ton and inflicted more misery on the opposition,” Hemjit said. 

For Harmanpreet, her 52- year-old father Harmandar Singh, a former cricketer by himself, has been a role model and first coach, who taught her the ABCs of the game. Hemjit said that her elder sister is fulfilling their father’s dream of playing cricket at the highest level.

“Her first coach has been our father. He was a good cricketer, but due to some circumstances he could not reach where he wanted to in the sport. But today he is able to realise his dream through his daughter,” Hemjit added.

Harmanpreet’s innings took the world of social media by storm and be it fans or former cricketers, everyone posted their congratulatory messages for the Punjabi girl. Her mother Satwinder Kaur, who works as an English teacher, believes that much like them, Indian parents, now-a-days, are allowing their children live their own dream.

“When girls of her age would be carefree, she would sweat it out practising for hours together. Even at home, she used to practice outside. We are proud of her. The mindset in the society towards girls is changing and more and more parents are fully backing their daughters to achieve their goals,” she said.

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