The Journey of Harmanpreet Kaur

Cricket is India’s most loved sport. Cricket is like a religion for India. India’s love is not just limited to the game of cricket but Indians equally love the cricketers also. Cricketers in India are worshipped like Gods. Earlier the craze for cricket was only among men but now women have also started to contribute to the game.

There are numerous woman players who have been contributing in gathering fame for the nation.  One of such players is Harmanpreet Kaur. She was born on March 8, 1989 in Punjab and is an all-rounder for the Indian women's cricket team. She has been honoured with the prestigious Arjuna Award for Cricket in the year 2017 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. She took to cricket after joining the Gian Jyoti School Academy, which was approximately 30 kilometres away from her residence in Moga, where she trained under Kamaldeesh Singh Sodhi. Initially she used to play in the men’s team. She moved to Mumbai in 2014 where she began working for the Indian Railways. At a tender age of 20 years, she made her ODI debut against arch-rivals Pakistan women's in March 2009 in the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup played at Bradman Oval, Bowral. In June 2009, she made her Twenty20 International debut in the 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20. She got an opportunity to act as the captain for the 2012 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup final as the captain herself was injured then. In June 2016, she became the first Indian cricketer to be signed by an overseas Twenty20 franchise. Kaur was a part of the Indian team to reach the final of the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup. The team had almost lost in that match to England by nine runs. In July 2017, Harman became second India batter to be a part of the top-10 of ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings after Mithali Raj. In December 2017, she found place among the players in the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmanpreet_Kaur