‘Deepti Sharma and I couldn’t capitalise on loose balls’: Harmanpreet Kaur takes blame for Australia loss

Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur took the blame on her shoulders as she admitted that she and Deepti Sharma could not capitalize on the loose balls against Australia in Sharjah on Sunday. India suffered a nine-run loss as their hopes of qualifying for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2024, all but ended.

Kaur and Deepti added 63 runs off 56 balls but the latter was dismissed after scoring a 25-ball 29 just when she was finding her groove. The Indian captain scored an unbeaten knock of 54 runs off 47 balls but she didn’t get any support from the other end.

Kaur said Australia is not solely dependent on one or two players but they mostly come up with a collective show.

“They don’t have anything fixed. They can make a plan and play according to a pitch and situation. They aren’t dependent on one or two players, have plenty of allrounders and the entire team contributes,” Harmanpreet explained the difference between the two teams.

The Indian skipper added that there are no easy runs against Australia and the six-time T20 World Cup champions have all the experience under their belt.

“I think the difference between them (and India) is that they didn’t give us easy runs. I think they have definitely the experience. They have played so many World Cups together. I think that is something that always shows them that they are a great side,” she said.

Kaur said she and Deepti failed to change the momentum in the middle overs and they should learn from Australia.

“I think we did really well (given the conditions). We knew this was a difficult tournament. When Deepti and I were batting, that time we were not able to utilise a few loose balls. We could have controlled the boundaries. I think we were still in the game. But then again, as we know their experience, they know how to win games like that. We have to learn from them,” Harmanpreet said.

India would hope that Pakistan beats New Zealand by less than 53 runs for them to qualify for the last four.