Team India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur found herself on the receiving end of outrage against her post-match comments after the Women in Blue lost the second T20I against Australia in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, January 7. After losing the toss, the Indian team couldn't stitch partnerships and regular wickets meant that they could muster only 130 runs in their 20 overs, which the world champions chased down in 19 overs, after they were able to stretch the game with a couple of late wickets.
In her assessment of the game and the team's bowling performance at the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet said, "[While Bowling] we were getting those opportunities and taking wickets in the middle, that's a positive. If Shreyanka was on target in the 19th over, things would have been different but these close games help to identify areas to improve.
"We have played these games a lot of time but this time we have a few new faces, this young side is looking very positive and I'm sure they will keep improving," she added.
Former India and Karnataka cricketer Dodda Ganesh was one of many who came down heavily on Harmanpreet for blaming the 21-year-old Shreyanka Patil, who came in to bowl the 19th over with just 15 runs left to win for Australia. "Throwing a 19yo [21] kid under the bus is not done," Ganesh wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Phoebe Litchfield hit a couple of boundaries in the first three deliveries to kill the game then and there as Australia romped home with a whole over left. The series stands levelled 1-1 and the Indian team will need to come back with a better performance with the bat as the bowlers have done well in both the games. Apart from Deepti Sharma, who scored 30, no one converted into a big one after getting starts while Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet registered single-digit scores.
