Harmanpreet admits batting order reshuffle backfired against Pakistan

After suffering a 13-run loss to Pakistan in the Women’s Asia Cup, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted that giving chances to other batters cost them in the match.
 
Harmanpreet, who usually comes out to bat at number four, came out to bat at number seven after Dayalan Hemalatha, Pooja Vastrakar, and Deepti Sharma.
 
India had also experimented in their previous two matches against Malaysia and UAE, which resulted in wins after their 41-run victory in the opening match of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka.
 
Despite Richa Ghosh’s late cameo of 26 off just 13 balls, hitting three sixes and a four, this time the experiment failed as India fell short of the target by 13 runs and were bowled out for 124 in 19.4 overs.
 
“In the middle, we were trying to give the chance to other batters, which cost us today. Because you have to do that as the tournament goes on, but it backfired. It was a chaseable target. In the middle overs, we were not able to take singles and rotate the strike, we played too many dot balls,” Harmanpreet said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
 
The 13-run loss against Pakistan was India’s first loss to their arch-rivals in the Women’s Asia Cup history. “For me, it is important that whoever is new in the side should get a good number of games heading into the World Cup, because whenever you change the side, the players coming in should be ready. It was a great opportunity for others,” added Harmanpreet.
 
Senior all-rounder Nida Dar’s brilliant all-around performance with the bat and ball was applauded by Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof. 
 
After electing to bat first, Nida smashed an unbeaten 56 off 37 balls for Pakistan to get them to a total of 137/6 in 20 overs. With her off-spin bowling, she took 2/23, including the important wicket of Indian skipper Harmanpreet.
 
“Very important game for us after yesterday. We executed things very well. How Nida batted beautifully. We just wanted to take calculated risks. Nida played a crucial inning for us and helped us get a good total.” said Bismah.
 
“In the middle, we were looking for gaps, and we know Nida can hit so we look to hit the strength areas. We didn’t assess the conditions well (yesterday). We read the conditions well today. We executed the plans very well today.” she added.
 
Nidar Dar, who was awarded Player of the Match for her all-round performance,
She revealed that she was looking for her hitting zones with the bat to put India under pressure. “It was a slow start but I went there and talked to Bismah, and she said, “Look, we have to make a partnership here.”
 
“It was a good wicket for the batters, but it was my role to play an innings like that. It was like I wanted to find my hitting areas. We need to work on our last three to four overs and need to finish well.”
 
India now has less than 24 hours to turn things around against the hosts and defending champions Bangladesh, a side that defeated them in the 2018 Women’s Asia Cup final.
 
Pakistan won by 13 runs (137/6, Nida Dar 56 (37)*, Bismah Maharoof 32 (35), Deepti Sharma 3/27, Pooja Vastrakar 2/23) over India (124/10, Richa Ghosh 26 (13), Dayalan Hemalatha 20 (22), Nashra Sandhu 3/30, Nida Dar 2/23).