In the post-match interview, Harmanpreet was asked about the reasons behind India’s unsuccessful attempt at defending 130.
Former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh criticized women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur for blaming teammate Shreyanka Patil for the defeat against Australia in the second T20I on Sunday.
During the match at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai, Australia needed 15 runs from the final two overs to chase down India’s total of 131. In a crucial move, Harmanpreet brought 21-year-old off-spinner Patil into the attack.
Unfortunately, Patil couldn’t contain the flow of runs from the bats of Ellyse Perry and Phoebe Litchfield. They scored 17 runs in the penultimate over, leading Australia to a 6-wicket victory and leveling the three-match series 1-1.
In the post-match interview, Harmanpreet was asked about the reasons behind India’s unsuccessful attempt at defending 130. She pointed to the 19th over bowled by Patil as a contributing factor.
“I think score wasn’t enough on the board but our bowlers did really well. We took it to the 19th over, that was the biggest positive.
“In the 19th over, if Shreyanka was on target, it would have made a huge difference for us. But yeah these are the things we need to do. We have seen these sorts of games a lot of time,” Harmanpreet said at the post-match presentation.
However, Ganesh, a former Indian cricketer who participated in 4 Tests and 1 ODI in 1997, did not take kindly to her comment. The 50-year-old expressed his belief that the Indian women’s captain should not have placed blame on such a young player.
“Throwing a 19yo kid under the bus is not done #INDvAUS,” Ganesh tweeted.
Throwing a 19yo kid under the bus is not done #INDvAUS https://t.co/01JuaxJLxG
— Dodda Ganesh | (@doddaganesha) January 7, 2024
India scored 130 runs for the loss of 8 wickets, after being asked to bat first by the Australian team. Deepti Sharma was the highest scorer with 30 runs, but the rest of the team struggled against the formidable bowling attack of Annabel Sutherland (2/18), Georgia Wareham (2/17), and Kim Garth (2/27) on a slow pitch.
In response, Australia relied on the exceptional performance of Ellyse Perry, who remained unbeaten with a brilliant score of 34 runs. With just 6 balls remaining, Australia successfully reached the target. This victory was even more special for Perry as it marked her 300th international match. To celebrate this milestone, she sealed the win by hitting a six off Patil’s final delivery.