Since her arrival on the international cricket scene, Harmanpreet has impressed most with her flamboyant batting, and with the iconic number 7 jersey paired with her power-hitting abilities, resemblances of MS Dhoni have been clear and have been pointed out by many fans. With her being promoted to captain after Mithali Raj retired from international cricket, it truly seemed like she was fulfilling the prophecy of walking the glorious path that Thala Dhoni did. And since she became a full-time captain in 2016, Harman has come a long way both as a captain and player. Her game has matured but she hasn’t lost her flair, and her captaincy records speak for themselves.
She has led the Indian team brave-heartedly, and while they aren’t necessarily dominating world cricket like the men’s team, her role has been pivotal in ensuring that the Indian team stands where they are. A fierce leader, she has always defended and stood by her teammates in support. Unlike Dhoni’s cool-headed captaincy, Harmanpreet is an animated leader who isn’t backing down from voicing her dissent and carries an aggressive attitude. As seen with Virat Kohli, this attitude can be used to draw fantastic results; drawing the best efforts from teammates and using aggression to elevate one’s game. But it can turn on you and draw you into a quicksand of hatred from the very people that supported you.
Harmanpreet is usually in the limelight for pulling off an incredible victory or for her fearless captaincy, but in the recent ODI series against Bangladesh she was heavily criticized for her conduct in the match. She broke the stumps and angrily questioned the umpire’s decision when she was given out, and to make matters worse, during the post-match she mentioned how they would expect low-standard umpiring when they come to Bangladesh next. To add controversial icing to the problematic cake, she asked the Bangladeshi captain to invite the umpires for their picture with the trophy. To be fair, it isn’t difficult to feel for Harman, the umpiring was terrible and the loss was gutting for sure, but being a public figure and that too a very celebrated Indian cricketer, it is necessary to not show your dissent to the public, even if it is warranted. She was banned for the next 2 ODI matches and she talked about moving on from the incident.
Currently, Kaur is doing pretty well in her WPL stint, even winning her team their opening match, and everything aside her talent and experience are invaluable to not just Mumbai but the Indian team. Along with Mandhana, she is the face of cricket in India, and you know what they say- heavy is the head that wears the crown. The crown is still deservedly on her head, but if she isn’t careful, she could lose it in the blink of an eye and with it, her reputation.
