“We were trying to give chances to other batters”: Harmanpreet Kaur explains why she batted at Number 7 vs Pakistan in Asia Cup match

Harmanpreet Kaur: The Indian captain’s decision to bat down the order backfired at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today.

Pakistan Women have defeated India Women for the first time in six years in the shortest format. Only their third T20I win against India, a 13-run victory has come as the best response to critics after Pakistan lost to Thailand yesterday.

Chasing a 138-run target, India were bundled out for a disappointing 124 in 19.4 overs as unnecessary experimentation cost them a match against their arch-rivals.

The biggest unwanted consequence of tinkering with their combination was observed in the form of captain Harmanpreet Kaur (12) batting as low as No. 7. With India failing to find any sort of momentum due to frequent fall of wickets, Kaur was expected to bat at her usual No. 4 position. Her absence in the middle amid a struggling batting order was perplexing, to say the least.

Harmanpreet Kaur explains why she batted at Number 7 vs Pakistan in Asia Cup match

Batting for the 121st time in this format, it was the first-ever instance of Kaur batting at No. 7. With India needing 73 runs to win off 47 balls upon her arrival in the 13th over, Kaur hit a solitary boundary at a strike rate of 100 before getting out in the 17th over at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today.

Being asked about a personal demotion in the batting order during the post-match presentation ceremony, Kaur explained the reason behind doing the same. The 33-year old player didn’t hesitate from admitting that the move backfired for them.

“In the middle, we were trying to give chances to other batters because you have to do that as the tournament goes on, but it backfired. It was a chaseable target. In the middle-overs, we were not able to take singles and rotate the strike. We played too many dot balls,” Kaur told the host broadcaster.