New Delhi: India succumbed to a humiliating defeat against Australia in their last match of Group A at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup game. While the majority of the criticism has been hurled at the batting collapse of Team India, a particular section of the Indian cricket fan base has also criticised the Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur for her 'selfish decision' to take a run in the penultimate over which created a whole lot of confusion. In the 20th over, India needed 14 runs to win with Harmanpreet on strike. Though the pitch was favouring the bowlers, Harmanpreet was able to bring up a half-century and was expected to take her side across the line. However, the skipper took a single on the first delivery and brought Pooja Vastrakar on strike. If you are making only 1 run in 17th over while chasing 152 against Aus - Then Ms. Harmanpreet kaur you have to taken full blame of this loss I know you are wearing number 7 but you aren’t Dhoni so stop trying to take game deep all the time 💔#INDvsAUS #HarmanpreetKaur pic.twitter.com/ZiE6rZuQeQ — Harsh shekhawat (@wordofshekhawat) October 13, 2024 Subsequently, pacer Annabel Sutherland clean-bowled Vastrakar on the second delivery. This was followed by Arundhati Reddy's run out on the third. It was Harmanpreet back on strike on the fourth delivery but she again went for a single and brought Shreyanka Patil on strike. With 12 needed off just two balls, Patil got run out on a wide delivery, followed by Radha Yadav's LBW dismissal on the next. With one ball remaining, Renuka Singh ran for a single as Australia won the game by nine runs. Strong Reactions on Social Media!! Harmanpreet Kaur as a captain lost 2018 T20 wc, 2020 T20 wc, 2022 wc, 2023 wc, 2024 asia cup, almost out from 2024 WC but she is queen, she won hearts of many blah blah blah 😂🤡 pic.twitter.com/tsKkF2VFZe — Kevin (@imkevin149) October 13, 2024 Troll her as much you can but She is the only clutch player Indian Women's Cricket has. HARMANPREET KAUR SHERNI HAI 🔥#INDWvsAUSW #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/7RAfnfkAGU — Dhaval Patel (@CricCrazy0) October 13, 2024 Smriti Mandhana - Stat padding Harmapreet Kaur - Babar type innings Others- Nothing - Need support ✅ - Equal pay ✅ - Reels ✅ - Facility ✅ - Performance ❌ Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma are all equally responsible for this.pic.twitter.com/eVMAnb1cqh — Inside out (@INSIDDE_OUT) October 14, 2024 How can India qualify for semis? India can still hope for a miracle and qualify for the semis. For that to happen, India’s arch-nemesis Pakistan first needs to defeat the New Zealand team in the final game of the Group A match. If Pakistan wins, they will have 4 points along with India and New Zealand. However, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will qualify for the knockout stage thanks to a better Net Run Rate.
