Still quite overwhelmed by emotions, India’s newest World Cup-winning captain Harmanpreet Kaur has recalled how picking up her sports tragic father’s “big” cricket bat as a kid ignited the dream that is now a reality.
After leading India to a 52-run win over South Africa in the women’s World Cup summit clash in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, Harmanpreet, in a video posted by the BCCI, recalled her childhood and also had one advice for aspiring young players — “Never stop dreaming. You never know where your destiny will take you.” “Ever since, I was a kid, I’ve always had a bat in my hand. I still remember we used to play with a bat from my dad’s kit bag. The bat was very big. One day, my dad carved a small bat for me out of one of his old bats. We used to play with it.
“Whenever we used to watch a match on TV, or watch India play, or watch the World Cup, I used to think, I need an opportunity like this. At that time, I didn’t even know about women’s cricket,” Harmanpreet said as she Harmanpreet’s father Harmandar Singh Bhullar dabbled in cricket and football before settling for a clerk’s job at a local judicial court in Punjab’s Moga, the city where she was born and brought up.
With the firm support of her father, the journey which began as a child culminated into a World Cup trophy for Harmanpreet on Sunday. None of it came easy but Harmanpreet said she wasn’t the one to get bogged down by the challenges that were integral to women’s cricket.
“I was dreaming, when will I wear this blue jersey? So I think this means a lot to me, a young girl who didn’t know about women’s cricket, but still dreamt, that one day, I want to bring that change in our country.
“And I think, it all shows that you should never stop dreaming. You never know where your destiny will take you. You never think, when will it happen, how will it happen. You only think, this will happen.
“So, I think, that was my self-belief, that this can be possible. And that is exactly what happened.” The 36-year-old stalwart said she is feeling relaxed and humbled after realising her childhood dream.
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“Personally, it’s a very emotional moment. Because, it was my dream since childhood. Ever since I started playing, it was my dream to win the World Cup one day. If I get an opportunity to lead my team, I don’t want to miss this opportunity,” she said, emotions still heavy in her voice.
“So, I said all these things from the bottom of my heart. And God heard everything one by one. It’s like magic. I don’t understand how come suddenly everything is falling in place. Everything kept happening one by one.
“Finally, we are world champions. I am feeling very relaxed, very humble, so grateful to God, for giving this team, which we have been dreaming of for so many years, and we are living this moment.” Harmanpreet also recalled the grand reception that the Indian team came back to after losing the 2017 women’s World Cup final to England in London.
“…we were so heartbroken. We lost the game by nine runs. We didn’t understand how that happened because that game was also fully in our control,” she said of the 2017 final where India were all out for 219 in 48.4 overs while chasing 229.
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“But after coming back, the kind of welcome and motivation we got from Indian fans, that showed that not only us, the entire country was waiting for women’s cricket to do something special for them and for the country.” That team, led by Mithali Raj, had the current team’s senior players like Harmanpreet, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma.
“Everybody was waiting for this moment. And I think it’s because of everyone’s blessings and prayers that we were able to cross that line. I don’t think we were alone playing in the stadium.
“Everybody, the entire stadium, people who were watching us on TV, everybody came together to win this. Because it wasn’t possible alone.”
