Harmanpreet Kaur wants girls’ talent pool to grow

CHENNAI: Fourteen — nine in T20I and five in 50-over format — that’s the number of World Cups Harmanpreet Kaur has played. And over all these years, it had been the same story of heartbreaks and near-misses.

Till it all changed earlier this month when Harman’s girls clinched the World Cup beating South Africa in the final.

Having lived through every almost-there moment, Harmanpreet, still processing the victory, knows the weight of an ICC title and how hollow the cabinet can feel without it.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“It’s still hard to believe that we have won the trophy but it feels good. I feel winning the World Cup trophy means a lot because even before this triumph we had been playing good cricket, we won so many bilateral series.

But as a team we knew that the World Cup is something which is very important. The moment you don’t have an ICC title, it feels empty. I think we really wanted to fill this spot, so now that we have done that, I hope there are many more to come in the future,” said Harmanpreet after being felicitated by Sathyabama University here on Thursday.This historic first-ever ODI World Cup triumph is being hailed as a turning point in Indian women’s cricket.

“It feels very good because the entire country is celebrating this victory. As a team we all wanted to do that...to inspire more girls to pick up any sport, not just cricket,” said Harmanpreet.The 36-year-old now wants to see more competition on the field, with more girls playing cricket so that the pool of talent grows. “I think already a lot of changes have happened, that’s why we were able to lift this cup. As cricketers we only demand for more matches which we are already getting now. We asked for the WPL (Women’s Premier League), and that’s there too. Now, it’s only about getting more players, more girl cricketers to the field so that we can have the same level of competition that men have in their game, ” said Harmanpreet.