India’s new star ‘behaves like Kohli and plays like Sehwag’
chandigarh — Harmanpreet Kaur on Thursday night led India single-handedly into the final of the Women’s World Cup in England with her superlative unbeaten knock of 171, edging out title holders Australia.
When she was growing up and showed interest in sports, her father got her a hockey stick. But she preferred to use a bat instead and play cricket — that too with boys of her neighbourhood as no other girls played cricket.
Hailing from Moga district in Punjab, Harmanpreet’s family has been rejoicing for the past 18 hours in their daughter’s glory, achieved in Derby.
The mobile phone of her father, Harmandar Singh Bhullar, the house telephone and phones of other family members have not stopped ringing for the past few hours. “I am so proud of my daughter. She has put Moga on the international map. She is better than boys,” a proud Harmandar Singh, who is an assistant with a lawyer in Moga town, said.
Harmanpreet’s mother Satinder Kaur said: “She has made the country proud. People should give their daughters a chance to excel.”
Harmanpreet’s sister Hemjit revealed that Indian women’s cricket’s new star always wanted to bat like Virender Sehwag.
“She bats like Virender Sehwag and she is as aggressive as Virat
Sorry for not being able to reply everyone individually, but Thank You for your love and support. @BCCIWomen #WWC17 Harmanpreet Kaur @ImHarmanpreet
Kohli,” said Hemjit, summing up the family’s elation at the batter’s hurricane knock. Youngsters from the neighbourhood have been dancing to the beats of Punjabi ‘dhol’ while the family has been busy distributing sweets. “Right from her childhood, she has been playing cricket with boys. Her hunger for runs never dies and this is reflected in her strike rate,” her sister said.
“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,” she added. — IANS/PTI
@therealkapildev
Filled with pride seeing @BCCIWomen perform like this. Congratulations on the great victory. Unforgettable knock by @ImHarmanpreet
Kapil Dev
171 of 115 balls ! @ImHarmanpreet unbelievable knock you don’t see that everyday in any form of cricket congratulations @ BCCIWomen rock on
Yuvraj Singh @YUVSTRONG12
Absolutely Fantastic @ImHarmanpreet ... and against the AUSSIES ......
Michael Vaughan @MichaelVaughan
@sanjaymanjrekar