Former India player Diana Edulji feels that Team India's vice-captain of Test and ODI format, Harmanpreet Kaur "can't survive in the [Indian] team" on the memories of her unbeaten 171 in 115 balls.
Follow Us
Former India player Diana Edulji feels that Team India‘s vice-captain of Test and ODI format, Harmanpreet Kaur “can’t survive in the [Indian] team” on the memories of her unbeaten 171 in 115 balls. Notably, she scored this record figure in the 2017 ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia. And the veteran has said that it’s time to look beyond her as well.
“If you are going with the same yardstick which was used to drop Jemimah Rodrigues, what the coach (Ramesh Powar) had mentioned, the same yardstick should be applied to Harmanpreet,” Edulji, a former India captain and a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators, said.
“I am very disappointed with her. She was my favorite player but you can’t survive on that one innings. She is only one innings away from a big knock but the effort has to be there. I will be the happiest if she proves me wrong. I just want the team to win the [ODI] World Cup [starting in New Zealand next month],” she again shared.
Read More: Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171 – The knock that changed India women’s cricket landscape
She continued: “Even on captaincy front, Smriti [Mandhana] is the frontrunner for all formats after Mithali [Raj] as Harman is not performing. I wouldn’t mind dropping her for the next game. Sneh Rana is a good replacement for her.”
However, after that stunning knock against Australia, Harmanpreet Kaur has scored 614 runs in 32 ODIs, which came at an average of 27.90, with just three half-centuries as well, one of them in the final of that World Cup against England only. Overall, in 109 matches, she has 2588 runs which came at an average of 34.05. She hasn’t passed 30 in her last five innings, which also included the two ODIs in New Zealand last week.
Meanwhile, she was in a purple patch while playing for Melbourne Renegades in the 2021-22 WBBL, where she scored 406 runs from 12 innings. Harmanpreet Kaur also picked up 15 wickets and was eventually named the Player of the Tournament as well.
READ MORE: Twitterati ask for five-day Women’s Ashes Tests after Canberra thriller
However, Diana Edulji also suggested dropping Shafali Verma as Smriti Mandhana is expected to return after completing her quarantine. In Mandhana’s absence, Sabbhineni Meghana has left her mark, with an innings of 49 in the second game and a quickfire 50 in the third as well. Although Verma continued to struggle in the format since making her debut last year, she scored a half-century today as well.
“Shafali needs a little rap on the knuckle, she needs proper grooming. She is moving towards the square leg and playing. There is no stillness in her stance. I can’t understand why. When she was scoring, there wasn’t this type of (trigger) movement. Bowlers have found her out and that is why she is moving away from the stumps to play her strokes. But you have to respect the bowlers at this level,” Edulji concluded.
