UP Warriorz batter Harleen Deol, who was retired out in the previous match against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday, made a strong comeback with a match-winning half-century against Mumbai Indians on Thursday (Jan 15).
Against Delhi Capitals on Thursday, the 27-year-old from Chandigarh was batting on 47 runs from 36 balls when head coach Abhishek Nayar asked her to come off the field just before the 18th over. The decision came as a surprise for her and Deol looked visibly shocked. Her replacement, Chloe Tryon, failed to make an impact and was dismissed by N. Shree Charani after scoring just one run from three balls. The move did not work, as Delhi Capitals went on to win the match.
On Thursday against Mumbai Indians, Harleen responded in style. She scored a brilliant 64 not out to guide UP Warriorz to their first win of the season. The decision to retire her out in the previous game surprised many, including Mumbai Indians and India captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
After the match, Harmanpreet praised Harleen’s ability and impact, saying she showed why she is such an important player for the team. She added that Harleen batted beautifully against MI and always wants to perform well for her side. Harmanpreet admitted she was surprised by the earlier decision but was happy to see Harleen return with a positive mindset.
“Yeah, definitely. I think she’s shown what, you know, why she’s there in the side and what she can bring to the team. And I think today she batted beautifully and I think she’s someone who always wanted to do well for her team. Yeah, surprised to see she was retired in the last game, but I think she came up with very positive mindset and I hope she’ll continue that,” said MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
Speaking about the incident herself, Harleen said she did not think too much about being retired out and stayed focused on doing her job for the team.
“Actually, yesterday also I was batting well but as you saw today, how Chloe can change the scenario. For me I just took it in that way. Chloe is someone who can hit big so probably that didn’t go our way. That is the only thing which happened,” she said after the match.
“Nothing. It’s just normal preparation for me. Nothing different. I was batting well yesterday also. There’s no point just keep stressing on that thing. Honestly yesterday it gave me a lot of confidence in fact, because first two game didn’t go my way. But then I went on and figured out a few things, I was just trying to overhit, this wicket is not something which you know for me as a batter to just keep overhitting and just more on timing based things,” she added.