India's newly recruited deputy-in-chief Harmanpreet Kaur will have an added responsibility going into the twelfth Women's ODI World Cup which is slated to kick off from March 4 (Friday). However, Harmanpreet was going through a form slump but right ahead of the marquee event she looks all charged up and settled with the mindset with which she will be approaching the tournament.
Two days before the ODI World Cup begins in New Zealand, the vice-captain said that critics often forget her low-scoring but important knocks because of one standout performance.
She feels her 171 against Australia in the 2017 World Cup overshadowed her many "crucial" knocks of 30 and 40, which followed that "benchmark-setting" innings.
"I know people talk more about my 171-knock and that is a standard I have set for myself, maybe that's why my small knocks of 30-40 runs, which are crucial to the team, are not given importance," Kaur said during a virtual press conference on Wednesday (February 2).
"I don't want to judge myself through numbers - what matters to me is that when the team needs me, I can stand up for them be it by scoring 100 runs or 10 runs."
The 32-year-old had been struggling with the willow but roared back to form in time for the World Cup, beginning on Friday.
Kaur scored a total of 33 runs in the first three matches against New Zealand before being dropped from the side for the fourth ODI. However, in the final game, the right-hander smashed 63, following it up with a 104 in the warm-up match against South Africa.
"Yes definitely (feeling confident about batting), there were a lot of ups and down in my performance but the last hundred performance has given me a lot of confidence.
"When things are not going your way a lot of people say a lot of things but the good thing in that is the people around me gave me a lot of confidence during the crucial time. It is painful when as a cricketer you are not getting runs. You are trying to give your 200 per cent but are not able to deliver at that level you expect of yourself," she added.
'Team psychologist has been a great help'
Mumbai-based sports psychologist Dr. Mugdha Bavare is travelling with the Indian women's team for the first time and Kaur feels her services have been vital.
"Mugdha maam has been of a lot of help especially in the last four games which we played against New Zealand where my performance was not good and even I was going into the shell.
"I had things in my mind but I was not aware of it, after talking to her I got the solutions. I got clear ideas after talking to her those things really helped during lat 2-3 games." Kaur confirmed that she will be batting at number five in the World Cup.
"I am more comfortable at four but sometime you have to play according to the demands of the team. We had discussions on that but as of now I'm going to play at number 5 but in future if there are any changes that would be according to match situations."
Need to give Shafali some space
Kaur is confident that the flamboyant Shafali Verma, who is going through a lean run, will find her form in the World Cup and it is important to give the youngster some space.
"She's a very important player for us and she understands her role well. It happens, sometimes, as hard as you try it sometimes doesn't translate in performance. This is when we have to give her some time to work on herself.
"We're all talking to her - me, the other players, Mugda. She will come good at the right time. Right now it's important to remind her of the good things she has done rather than what's not going her way.
"I'm sure she'll click at the right time ,she's someone who has done very well for us and will bounce back." The 32-year-old also said that she missed the warm-up match against West Indies on Tuesday as she had a sore wrist.
India will open their campaign against Pakistan on Sunday.
India's squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smirti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Taniya Bhatia, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav Reserves: Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur, Sabbhineni Meghana
