'Hum logo ne thodi na rope lagaya hai, jinhone lagaya hai unko poocho' - Harmanpreet Kaur's savage take on shorter boundaries at WPL

Team India and Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is fierce on and off the field, and she never holds back while speaking her heart out. The 34-year-old has been brilliant so far in the Women’s Premier League, both as a player and as a captain, which has led to Mumbai Indians making it to the finals of the inaugural edition of the tournament.

The BCCI issued a direction for the boundary restrictions to be reduced by five metres as compared to the T20 World Cup last month to a maximum of 60 metres before the first game of the WPL. The choice was made to provide spectators with more high-scoring contests and amusement.

Nonetheless, boundaries were pushed in as close as 42–44 metres at both of the WPL 2023 locations, the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai and the Brabourne Stadium, with several batters making the most out of the situation.

Ahead of the first-ever WPL Final, the two captains- Harmanpreet Kaur and Meg Lanning- participated in a press conference and addressed several questions, of which one was about the shorter boundaries for the women’s game. Harmanpreet had a savage reply to the question as she burst into laughter soon, as she said:

“Hum logo ne thodi na rope lagaya hai. Jinhone rope lagaya hai aap unko poocho na. (We did not put the boundary ropes in place. You can ask whoever has done that). It is not in our hands no? It is in the hands of the officials. You can talk to them.”

Mumbai Indians will face Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals in the summit clash on Sunday, March 26, at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Delhi Capitals have also been brilliant this season as just like Mumbai, they finished with 12 points to their name, winning six games and losing just two in the league stage. But a higher NRR handed them a direct qualification into the finale.

I am confident that Indian talent is also going to do well like Australia are doing: Kaur

Speaking of the importance of the tournament in India, Kaur drew comparisons between the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and WPL as she further said:

“WBBL played a big role in the development of cricket in their country and WPL is also going to have the same role for our cricket. The domestic players are going to get a lot of opportunities, many girls have done well as we have seen. We will start seeing the results in 2-3 years. I am confident that Indian talent is also going to do well like Australia are doing.”

Many inexperienced and untested Indian players from both sides will be competing in their first major final, but Kaur will once again be in charge of a squad against Lanning in a summit match—a situation in which she has not fared well in the past. The two sides have met in knockout stages several times while playing for their national sides, but Kaur is certain that Mumbai Indians will put on a strong performance on Sunday.

“This is a different scenario, our team is doing well and so is Meg Lanning’s team. Whatever happened is in the past and we cannot change that. We want to do well in the future,” she stated.

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