Harmanpreet Kaur names her favourite players

Harmanpreet Kaur grabbed eyeballs all over the globe with her stunning innings of 171 runs off a mere 115 balls, against the mighty Australians in the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup, 2017. Her fiery innings in the semi-finals was instrumental in India securing a place in the finals of the tournament. The Indian lasses are all set to take on the England team on Sunday in the final game of the championship at the Lord’s cricket ground.

Kaur smashed 20 fours and 7 glorious sixes in her career-best innings against Australia, almost single-handedly hauling her team to the finals. She scored at an astoundingly brisk pace, with the last 120 runs coming off just 51 balls. As a result of her heroic knock, India posted a massive 281 for 4 in the allotted 42 overs in the rain-affected match and won the game by 36 runs against the defending champions. Recently, as quoted by Wisden India, Harmanpreet Kaur named her two favorite players, whom she idolizes.

Ajinkya Rahane is Harmanpreet Kaur’s favorite batsman

Although Kaur bears a stark resemblance to the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and other hard-hitters, the Punjab-born batter looks up to someone else who believes in timing rather than going all out against the bowlers. When asked about her favorite player, she named Indian men’s team’s batting mainstay, Ajinkya Rahane.

In a recent interview, the 28-year old expressed her respect and admiration towards Rahane and his impenetrable batting technique. She also shared a cricketing trivia about her idol, about how Rahane had once shoulder-armed the ball for around two hours after being told by his coach not to play any shot in the nets. She distinctly named this incident to be responsible for her becoming a fan of Rahane.

Kaur also admires the ruthless Virender Sehwag

Harmanpreet is also known to hold former opener, Virender Sehwag in the highest regard. Sehwag is renowned for his aggressive strokeplay and ability to demolish the opposition. As a result, it is very likely that Kaur has developed her batting style by following Sehwag’s mantra: “Watch the ball, hit the ball”. She had once revealed that she used to collect every article about Sehwag and switch off the television after his dismissal.