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Harmanpreet Kaur (Photo Source: Twitter)

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur believes that time away from cricket has played a role in their defeat to England in the first T20I of the series. The 34-year-old also added that the bowling unit will have to get better for them to make a comeback in the series. Notably, England posted 197 runs on the board as Danielle Wyatt (75) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (77) played some incredible cricket in Mumbai. In response, India scored 159 runs, losing the match by 38 runs.

Following the defeat, Harmanpreet stated that the team will come up with better bowling plans and aims to improve before the upcoming World Cup. She also gave credit to the English batters for playing to their merit but expects the bowlers to make a strong return in the second T20I.

“We needed to bowl according to the plans. The bowlers will learn from it and we will improve before the ICC World Cup. I know it’s a tough game but I know the bowlers will learn from it. Well, we know they are good batters. They have played good cricket for so many years. We have had some changes in the bowling lineup but we will come up with better plans,” said Harmanpreet in the post-match presentation.

“Playing after long time, I was expecting some good performance from the players. But it happens if you are away from international cricket for some time,” she added.

We just needed to back ourselves while chasing: Hamanpreet Kaur

Chasing a mammoth total, India needed a strong start with the bat. Youngster Shafali Verma gave the perfect start but Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues failed to support her in the middle, which derailed India’s momentum. Later, neither of the batters could step up with the bat and India went on to lose by 38 runs.

“We just needed to back ourselves while chasing. We were looking forward to some good start. But after losing a couple of wickets, we got a partnership but the last ten overs didn’t go our way,” Harmanpreet added.