Women’s Asia Cup 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur wants India to continue with ‘fearless cricket’ after Pakistan win
India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in their opening game.
India picked up a comfortable seven-wicket win over Pakistan in their opening game at the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side was fantastic with the ball, restricting Pakistan to just 108 runs and later chased it down inside 15 overs. Deepti Sharma was the star with the ball as she picked up three wickets while Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana gave the perfect start to India with the bat, as their 85-run opening stand got the job done.
After the win, skipper Harmanpreet credited the bowlers and the openers for the success. Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar picked up early wickets with the ball, which put pressure on Pakistan as he never looked comfortable. Sidra Ameen tried to take control of the situation but there was no support from the other end. Meanwhile, Harmanpreet wants to continue with the momentum and aims to play a fearless brand of cricket in the remaining matches.
“Our bowlers and openers made it. First game is always a pressure game, but we managed it well. Our entire unit played really well. When we are bowling we talk about early breakthroughs and in batting, we look to start well so credit to Smriti and Shafali,” Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by India Today.
“Playing fearless cricket, how we played today and we are really happy with the way we played. My knee is fine,” she added.
India Women are gearing up for T20 World Cup through Asia Cup 2024
Ahead of the commencement of the tournament, the Indian team clarified that they want to win the tournament but also want to keep the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in mind. They have come close to the world title multiple times in the recent past but could never win the gold.
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Given that the tournament will be played in the spin-friendly conditions of Bangladesh, India are optimistic of their chances. Meanwhile, they will play UAE in their upcoming clash in the Asia Cup on July 21.
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