Harmanpreet Kaur ( ; born 8 March 1989) is an Indian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who serves as the captain of the India Women's National Cricket Team in all formats . She plays as an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

for the

Indian women's cricket team The India women's national cricket team, also known as Team India or Women in Blue, represents India in women's international cricket. It is governed by Board of Control for Cricket in India India made its Test debut in 1976, against the West ...

; and was awarded the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

for Cricket in the year 2017 by the

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of youth affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Anurag Thakur is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports followed ...

. In November 2018, she became the first woman for India to score a century in a

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twent ...

(WT20I) match. In October 2019, during the series against South Africa, she became the first cricketer for India, male or female, to play in 100 international Twenty20 matches.

Early life

Kaur was born on 8 March 1989 in Moga,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, to Harmandar Singh Bhullar, a

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and Satwinder Kaur. Her parents are baptised Sikhs. Her younger sister Hemjeet, is post-graduate in English and works as an assistant professor at Guru Nanak College in Moga. She took to cricket after joining the Gian Jyoti School Academy, away from her residence in Moga, where she trained under Kamaldeesh Singh Sodhi. Harman used to play with men in the formative days of her career. She moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in 2014 where she began working for the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

. Harmanpreet was inspired by

Virender Sehwag Virender Sehwag (born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive opener, he played for Delhi Capitals in IPL and Delhi and Haryana in Indian domestic c ...

. Her father, who now is a clerk at a judicial court, was once an aspiring cricketer. He was the first coach of Harman when she had begun playing the sport.

Career

She made her ODI debut at age of 20 against arch-rivals Pakistan women's in March 2009 in the

2009 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, held in Australia from 7 to 22 March 2009. England won the tournament, beating New Zealand in the final to claim their third World Cup title. England batte ...

played at

Bradman Oval Bradman Oval is a heritage-listed cricket ground in Glebe Street, Bowral in the southern highlands area of New South Wales, Australia. It was named after cricketer Don Bradman, who lived locally and played at the ground in the 1920s. His ash ...

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, about ninety minutes southwest of Sydney. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands. Bowral once served ...

. In the match, she bowled 4 overs conceding 10 runs and also caught Armaan Khan off

Amita Sharma Amita Sharma (born 12 September 1982) is an Indian former cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm medium-fast bowler. She appeared in five Test matches, 116 One Day Internationals and 41 Twenty20 Internationals for India between 2002 an ...

. In June 2009, she made her

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

debut in the

2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the inaugural ICC Women's World Twenty20 competition, taking place in England from 11 to 21 June 2009. All group stage matches were played at the County Ground in Taunton, with the semi-finals held at Tre ...

against England women's at

County Ground, Taunton The County Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as Cooper Associates County Ground, and nicknamed Ciderabad, is a cricket ground in Taunton, Somerset. It is the home of Somerset County Cricket Club, who have played there since 1882. The ground ...

where she scored 8 runs off 7 balls. Her ability to hit the ball a long way was seen when she played quick-fire innings of 33 against England women's in a T20I game played in

in 2010. She was named as Indian women's captain for the

2012 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup The 2012 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup was the fifth edition of the ACC Women's Asia Cup and the first edition played in the Women's Twenty20 cricket format as all four previous editions were contested in the Women's One Day International cricket fo ...

final, as captain

Mithali Raj Mithali Dorai Raj (born 3 December 1982) is an Indian cricketer and a former captain of the India women's national cricket team from 2004 to 2022. Mithali is the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket and is considered one of the ...

and vice-captain

Jhulan Goswami Jhulan Nishit Goswami (born 25 November 1982) is an Indian cricketer. She plays as a right-arm medium fast bowler and right-handed batter. She is one of the fastest (female) bowler of all times and considered one of the greatest bowlers to ...

were out because of injuries. She made her debut as captain against Pakistan women's as India defended 81 runs thus won Asia Cup. In March 2013, she was named ODI captain of India women's when Bangladesh women's toured in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In the series, Kaur scored her second ODI century in 2nd ODI. Kaur finished the series 195 runs at average of 97.50 with a century and a fifty along with 2 wickets. In August 2014, she one of the eight debut that played against

England women cricket team The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...

in a

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

at Sir Paul Getty's Ground,

Wormsley Wormsley is a private estate of Mark Getty and his family, set in of rolling countryside in the Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire (formerly Oxfordshire), England. It is also the home of Garsington Opera. Acquired by John Paul Getty, Jr., Sir Paul ...

in which she scored 9 and a duck in a match. In November 2014, she took 9 wickets in a Test match

South Africa women cricket team The South Africa women's national cricket team, nicknamed the Proteas, represents South Africa in international women's cricket. One of eight teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship (the highest level of the sport), the team is organis ...

played at

Gangothri Glades Cricket Ground The Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Ground, commonly known as Gangotri Glades Cricket Ground ( kn, ಗಂಗೋತ್ರಿ ಗ್ಲೇಡ್ಸ್ ) and formerly known as the University of Mysore Platinum Jubilee Cricket Stadium, is a cr ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

and helped India to win the match by an innings and 34 runs. In January 2016, she helped India to win series in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

as well as scored a 31-ball 46 runs in India's highest ever chase in T20 internationals. She continued her form in the

2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the fifth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, the world championship of women's Twenty20 International cricket. India hosted the event for the first time, with matches played from 15 March to 3 Ap ...

where she scored 89 runs and took seven wickets in four matches. 2016–17 WBBL ST v PS 17-01-21 Kaur (03)

In June 2016, she became the first Indian cricketer to be signed by an overseas Twenty20 franchise.

Sydney Thunder The Sydney Thunder are an Australian franchise professional cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League. Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Thunder are the successors of the New South Wale ...

, the

Women's Big Bash League The Women's Big Bash League (known as the WBBL and, for sponsorship reasons, the Weber WBBL) is the Australian women's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition. The WBBL replaced the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, which ran from the 2007–08 ...

champions, signed her for the 2016–17 season. On 20 July 2017 she scored 171*(115) against Australia in the

2017 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international women's cricket tournament that took place in England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. It was the eleventh edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and the third to be held in England (after ...

semi-final in Derby. Kaur's 171* is currently the second-highest score by an Indian batter in women's one-day internationals, behind Deepti Sharma's 188 runs. Kaur also holds the record for the highest individual score for

in Women's cricket World Cup history. Kaur now holds the record for registering the highest ever individual score in a knockout stage of a Women's World Cup match (171 *) surpassing the previous record of 107 * by

Karen Rolton Karen Louise Rolton (born 21 November 1974) is an Australian former cricketer and captain of the national women's team. A left-handed batter, she has scored the most runs for her country in women's Test cricket. International cricket After m ...

. Kaur was part of the Indian team to reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

where the team lost to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

by nine runs.England v India: Women's World Cup final – live!
''The Guardian'', 23 July 2017. In July 2017, Harman became second India batter to feature in the top-10 of ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings after

. In December 2017, she was named as one of the players in the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year. In October 2018, she was named as the captain of India's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Ind ...

tournament in the West Indies. Ahead of the tournament, she was named as one of the players to watch. In the opening match of the tournament, against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, she became the first woman for India to score a century in WT20Is, when she made 103 runs from 51 balls. She was the leading run-scorer for India in the tournament, with 183 runs in five matches. In November 2018, she was named in

's squad for the

2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season The 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL, 04 was the fourth season of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the semi-professional women's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 1 December 2018 to 26 ...

. In January 2020, she was named as the captain of India's squad for the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts Aus ...

in Australia. In 2021, she was drafted by Manchester Originals for the inaugural season of The Hundred. She played for them in 3 games, scoring 104 runs before withdrawing herself from the tournament due to injury. In March 2021 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, she became fifth Indian woman cricketer to represent the country in 100 ODIs. In May 2021, she was named as the vice-captain of India's

Test squad Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

for their one-off match against the

England women's cricket team The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...

. In September 2021, she was signed by

Melbourne Renegades The Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash ...

for

2021–22 Women's Big Bash League season The 2021–22 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL, 07 was the seventh season of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the semi-professional women's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament was played from 14 October ...

. In January 2022, she was named in India's team for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. In July 2022, she was named as the captain of India's team for the cricket tournament at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaur, Harmanpreet 1989 births Living people Indian women cricketers India women One Day International cricketers India women Twenty20 International cricketers India women Test cricketers Indian women cricket captains People from Moga, Punjab Punjabi people Punjab, India women cricketers Sydney Thunder (WBBL) cricketers Lancashire Thunder cricketers IPL Supernovas cricketers Recipients of the Arjuna Award Manchester Originals cricketers Melbourne Renegades (WBBL) cricketers Cricketers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in cricket

Early life

Career

References

Further reading

External links