Born 8th March 1989 in Moga, Punjab, Harmanpreet Kaur is a Test, ODI and T20I player for India, and current captain of the T20 team.
Harman made her international debut for the Women in Blue in the ODI World Cup in Australia in 2008/09. Her first match was against Pakistan at the Bradman Oval in Bowral, NSW. The right-arm medium pacer was the 4th bowler used and took 0-10 from four overs. She helped with a runout and took a catch. Didn’t bat. India won by 10 wickets. The captain that day was none other than India’s champion fast bowler, Jhulan Goswami.
Fast forward to 7th March 2021 and Harman, vice-captain of the team now, plays her 100th ODI at Lucknow. In the team with her, celebrating a return to international cricket after a year of pandemic restrictions, was Jhulan Goswami.
In between Bowral and Lucknow, in those 100 ODIs, Harman scored 2568 runs at 34.70 with a best of 171*. The high score was in the semi-final of the World Cup against Australia in 2017 and ensured that India would get to the Final.
In 2009 Harman made her T20 International debut, batting at number eight, just above captain Jhulan Goswami. The skipper didn’t give her a bowl and as with her ODI debut, India lost by 10 wickets. It got better over time and now Harman is the captain of the Indian women’s T20I team. She has played over 150 matches and amassed more than 3000 runs.
In 2014 Harman made her Test her debut against England at Wormsley. She made 9 and 0. A few months later she played in her second Test, this time against South Africa. While not starring with the bat, her medium pacers took 5-44.