Virender Sehwag wishes Indian Women's team good luck prior to the finals

While many have drawn a comparison between Harmanpreet Kaur’s style of play and that of former Indian opener Virender Sehwag, the man himself took to Twitter earlier yesterday to congratulate the Centurion on her brilliant inning. The 28-year-old Harmanpreet Kaur scored an impeccable knock of 171* of just 115 balls to pave the way for India’s victory. Her innings comprised of a staggering 20 fours and seven sixes.

Sehwag also took the opportunity to wish luck to the Indian eves prior to the big finals on July 23 that will be played at Lord’s.

And the comparisons haven’t been just from the fans. Harmanpreet’s sister, Hemjit herself has connected the Indian batsman with legends of the sport, Virender Sehwag, and Virat Kohli. “She bats like Virender Sehwag and is aggressive like Virat Kohli” as Hemjit correctly put it. Kaur’s courageous knock took India to a competitive total of 281 which eventually proved to be far too much for the defending champions Australia as the Women in Blue won by 36 runs.

Harmanrpreet becomes the second highest run scorer for India

According to the Indian Express, Hemjit revealed, “Right from her childhood, she has been playing cricket with boys. Her hunger for runs never dies and this is reflected in her strike rate.

“Harman is always positive. On the field, she always behaves like Virat Kohli and is aggressive like him. However, off- field, she is quite calm and composed. Right from her early days, she treated Virender Sehwag as her batting idol and even bats like him.”

Harmanpreet also became the fifth highest individual run-scorer and the second highest Indian scorer after Deepti Sharma, with her knock of 171. The girl from Moga district went on a rampage and displayed some immense power hitting to slam her third ODI ton. Kaur’s innings was a perfect show of clean hitting and imperative strokeplay. Her exploits have now earned comparisons with Kapil Dev’s 175-run knock in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe.