Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has put her weight behind Deepti Sharma after she ran out Charlotte Dean. The England batter was backing too far ahead at the non-striker end and Sharma decided to ran her out as India won in the third ODI by 16 runs at Lord’s, London on Saturday.
Dean was on 46 runs and she was taking the hosts close to victory but at the same time she was running out of partners. It was a controversial end to the game and Dean was seen in tears after she was given out by the third umpire.
However, Sharma was well within her rights and within the rules of the game to run out Dean. As per the new ICC rule, such type of dismissals were earlier known as ‘Mankad’ but they now fall under the category of run out.
Harmanpreet Kaur said in the post-match presentation, “This wicket was not easy to bat on, our batters did a decent job. We were looking for 170 after losing four wickets. After that we knew we have the pace attack and spin attack to take the wickets. We never thought we were out of the game.. To be honest, I thought you will ask about all the 10 wickets which was not easy to take as well [on being probed about the last wicket]. It’s part of the game I don’t think we have done something new. It shows your awareness, what batters are doing. I will back my players, she hasn’t done something outside the rules. At the end of the day a win is a win and we will take that. After the first game, we discussed how to play and we just want to continue this way. I’m just enjoying my time, being there will always gives you runs. Watching the ball and reacting and not trying to do something extra.”
On the other hand, Kaur also paid tribute to Jhulan Goswami, who played her last game for India. Goswami has been a veteran for the last two decades and she was able to end her career on a high.
Kaur added, “When I debuted, she was the leader, in my best times, many were supporting me, but even in my rough times, she was the one who supported. She is just a call away. I wanted to thank her and tell her she is always with us. She is a go-to person, I always called her at low times and she was someone always guiding me [on Jhulan].”
Meanwhile, India was able to clinch the three-match ODI series by 3-0 and Kaur played a key role in the team’s win. She scored a total of 221 runs in three matches at an average of 221 and a strike rate of 103.27. Ergo, she was awarded the Player of the Series.
