India women's T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur's brilliant all-round show for Melbourne Renegades has earned her a major title in the ongoing Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). The star all-rounder is India's top run-scorer of the WBBL 2021 season with 399 runs in 11 innings at an impressive strike rate of 135.25. Moreover, the prolific Renegades player was brilliant with the ball as well. The off-spinner scalped 15 wickets in the tournament at an average of 20.4. For her all-round performance, the stalwart was adjudged as the ‘Player of the tournament award', a feat no India has achieved in the league's history.
In addition, Harmanpreet was voted as the competition's top player by the standing umpires as she received the most number (31) of votes followed by Perth Scorchers opener Beth Mooney who got 28 votes along with the Kiwi all-rounder Sophie Devine. It is to be noted that New Zealand's Sophie was winning the crown of ‘Player of the tournament’ from the last two seasons.
The veteran Indian batter seemed jubilant after getting the award and expressed her gratitude to the entire team and coaching staff of Renegades.
"I'm extremely delighted, it's something very big that I have achieved. I'm very thankful to my team and all the support staff, they have been great during this time and have supported me a lot. It's been totally a team effort -- I was just doing the job the team required from me," the veteran said in a release.
"We have a team that has gelled together. We support each other and that's what we have been doing. I haven't put any extra pressure on myself, I've just enjoyed being here and supporting my teammates," the right-handed batter added.
Harmanpreet is also the first Indian player to be included in the best XI of the tournament. Apart from the Indian giant, Sophie was the only non-Australian who was included in the best team of the tournament. On the other hand, with 377 runs from 13 innings, Smriti Mandhana failed to make the team of the tournament. In the previous week, Mandhana became the first Indian batter to score a century in WBBL with her record-equalling 114.
WBBL 2021 Best XI: Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers, captain, international), Beth Mooney (Perth Scorchers), Georgia Redmayne (Brisbane Heat, wicket-keeper), Harmanpreet Kaur (Melbourne Renegades, international), Grace Harris (Brisbane Heat), Tahlia McGrath (Adelaide Strikers), Jess Jonassen (Brisbane Heat), Amanda-Jade Wellington (Adelaide Strikers), Hannah Darlington (Sydney Thunder), Tayla Vlaeminck (Hobart Hurricanes), Darcie Brown (Adelaide Strikers)
