WBBL experience taught us to value our time, says Harmanpreet Kaur

The last day of July 2016 was marked a red-letter day for Indian women’s cricket as Harmanpreet Kaur became the first from the country to pen a deal with Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League. The deal was not only an eye-opener for everyone but is done a lot with regards to standards in fitness and training efficiency. And most importantly, it brought Harmanpreet out of her comfort zone.



“It made a lot of difference. I can say that there’s a big difference in my mindset now and what it was before,” Harmanpreet was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz. “I don’t know why previously we used to look for our comfort zone - scoring as per our comfort - but Big Bash was a completely new experience for me.



“I had to go and play with different players who I don’t know at all, and about whom I’ve not even heard about before. To stay with them for a month/month and a half, and play with them... because previously we’d played cricket amongst our people so you’d not think too much about you’re out of home, how you are etc. But to go there, to do everything by yourself from morning to night and to play cricket along with that, I’ve learnt a lot from that.”



In India, it is said that we don’t value our time. And to go into a completely new atmosphere where time is everything, the pressure was on Harmanpreet initially. “We didn’t give enough respect to time (here) - at what time you train, at what time you leave the ground, we don’t do these things. So in the time period we got (over there) to do everything, that was a different kind of pressure,” said the India T20I skipper.



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“You have only 15 minutes to do everything in the nets... it’s not even like you have all day in the nets so you do whatever you want. In 15 minutes you've to do everything, you’ve to do all kinds of training that you need. So you take that pressure and train. And in a single day we’d do everything - batting, bowling, fitness, gym - which I’ve not done in India.



“In India, on days when you bat, you may follow it up with some running but you can’t do gym because you’ll have soreness. But in the Big Bash, in spite of doing all three things in a single day, I was fresh the next day. With that, the mind started getting different messages that I can do everything in a day, and made me think ‘why do I keep waiting and saying I’ll do this tomorrow or that day after?’. There’s nothing like that,” she elaborated.



Following the footsteps of the skipper, the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy and Jemimah Rodrigues too got a taste of the WBBL. And it has helped as India reached the finals of an ICC event twice in the last three years.



Harmanpreet, who is currently in Patiala, also spoke about his interaction with her idol Virender Sehwag – former India opener and elaborated on the friendship that grew over the years. “Yes, he always responds to my queries and advises me on anything that pertains to the game,” she said. “He never denied to any of my requests. When I first texted him, I received a call back within two seconds. I didn’t expect him to do that, I didn’t expect him to even read my message. He was very helpful and polite on the call. I never felt he didn’t have time for me.”



For any player, it is their first middle of the bat or a finding a gap that brings them in their zones. In Harmanpreet’s case, it’s her first six that fixes everything. “Unlike others, I get the feeling of something good after I hit my first six. Even if score a 50 and had not hit a six, I feel uncomfortable, I don’t get settled. The moment I hit one, I get in the zone and play in my way,” said Harmanpreet.



Recalling her memorable 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 World Cup semifinal, Harmanpreet spoke about what she felt being in the middle with skipper Mithali Raj. “During that innings my mindset was different. That day I was recalling my whole journey. The moment I entered the ground, I still remember Mithali di and I had just made a 50-run partnership.



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“We knew that Australia bat very deep. I kept telling Mithali di that we will need more than 250 runs to beat Australia and I must bat freely for that. She supported me and allowed me to free my arms. I was always getting messages from the dressing room that target 250 runs. But I had a feeling that it won’t help the cause to beat Australia. I had played the WBBL in the lead up to the World Cup and I knew what are their strengths and weaknesses. I told not to give any messages from outside let me play my way,” she elaborated.



There have been many who have given thumbs-up for a full-fledged six-team women’s IPL. And according to the 30-year-old, it is the logical step of progression. “I’ve been saying for the last three years that women’s IPL should happen. If our mindset can change because of Big Bash.. if in spite of playing so much cricket, we can still get awareness about certain aspects of the game, then just think how much the U-16 and U-19 girls, who are just starting to play now, can gain from the experience of an IPL, even if they’re only travelling with the team,” said Harmanpreet.



“The things that we’re learning at the age of 26, 27, they’ll get to learn at 16. It’s a huge 10-year gap. And then imagine what kind of a cricketer you’ll become by the time you’re 24-25. So I think it should be there. I believe we can have at least six teams. Despite making three teams in the Women’s challenger trophy, I felt there were a lot of girls who deserved to play and could perform well, so we could’ve made three more good teams. It’s not like we don’t have talent.”



Having said that, she also warned everyone not to expect the women’s IPL to have an immediate impact that men’s IPL did in 2008. “It might take time, probably a year to set such a standard. In two years, I believe we can have a very good tournament. There’s not much competition in the domestic circuit to be honest, because there are 33-37 teams, so what competition can you search in that?



“But if IPL starts, or any such tournament starts, where there are six good teams including overseas players, then I think it’ll be great for our domestic players. Because right now when a player goes from domestic to international level, there’s a huge difference. For the first 10 games, she might not even be able to understand how to handle the pressure, and by then the selector might even decide on that player’s career - on whether to keep or discard this player,” she concluded.