CHANDIGARH: Harleen Deol, who used to play for Punjab in women’s domestic cricket and now represents Himachal Pradesh, has become a sensation overnight. Twitter is going crazy over the catch she took to dismiss Amy Jones in the England-India women’s T20 match in Northampton on Friday. Although India lost, Harleen’s effort has won her many admirers. As a result, the 23-year-old’s mother has become a sought after person. She is busy answering queries on her daughter and explaining what makes her click. “We have been getting so many calls for the catch she took.
I wish rain had not stopped the game and Harleen batted all through to help India win,” says Charanjit Kaur. Although the batter has played 10 T20s for India, she has turned out just once in ODIs. With a 50-over World Cup up next year, Harleen is keen to become a regular in that format. “She wants to be part of the Indian ODI team and play in the Australia series followed by the World Cup in New Zealand early next year. And Harleen has always been a fitness freak. She never compromises with fitness.
Ever since the lockdown was lifted last year, she has been practising regularly. We bought her gym equipment, so that she could work out at home,” says her mother. Harleen used to play for Punjab before shifting to Himachal when she was a teenager. Other than batting, she also bowls legspin. She is a student of MCM DAV College in Chandigarh’s Sector 36 and lives with her family in Mohali (SAS Naagr) in Punjab. She ideologies Australian spinner Shane Warne and India women’s captain Mithali Raj.
It was her grandmother Gurdev Kaur’s dream that she be a cricketer. When Harleen took the catch, she was stationed at deep midwicket. She bent backwards and stretched full length to grasp the ball, but momentum took her over the boundary ropes. She showed great presence of mind to throw the ball in the air, and then jumped back into the field of play to complete the catch.