Former Indian skipper, Anjum Chopra was seen consoling a distraught Harmanpreet Kaur, whose team suffered an agonizing five-run defeat against Australia to bow out of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. Chasing a total of 172 runs in Cape Town, India were doing a decent job until the captain, Kaur was run out in an unfortunate manner whilst she was batting on 52.
Following the defeat, the 33-year-old wore sunglasses to the post-match interview, claiming she does not want her nation to see her crying. However, the Indian leader broke down in tears during her conversation with Chopra.
Opening up on their interaction, Chopra told ICC “My Intention was to give the captain some empathy because that’s all I can offer from the outside. It was an emotional moment for both of us. It was a player-to-player moment with her. We were just trying to lessen our sorrows by sharing them.”
“India have reached the semi-finals a lot of times and have lost a lot of times. This is not the first time I’ve seen her play like this, I have also seen her battling injuries and her health," said the former cricket-turned-commentator,” she further added.
Harmanpreet Kaur Is a Player Who Never Backs Down: Anjum Chopra
Kaur’s availability for the semi-final was once in serious doubt, given that she was down with fever, but the Punjab-born player managed to not only make it to the playing XI, but also play a commendable knock under precarious circumstances – coming out to bat when India were 28/3,
Praising Kaur’s insurmountable fighting spirit, Chopra further stated “Today, she might not have even played. But because it was the semi-final of a World Cup and because Harmanpreet Kaur is a player who never backs down, but charges ahead, she did just that.”
“She was able to bring herself to play this match and continued it while fielding by running all over the ground. The captain said I’ll go everywhere and then while batting she rekindled India’s hopes,” she concluded.
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