Harmanpreet was overthinking, which resulted in her enjoying a bit cautious up to now: Coach who helped her break shackles

On Wednesday evening, when the India Women beat England Women by 88-runs within the second ODI at Canterbury, in Adelaide, a coach typed out a message for Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar, the skipper of the profitable workforce.

Harmanpreet’s 111-ball unbeaten 143 was the spotlight of the Indian innings, her fifth ODI century and helped India Women win their first collection in England since 1999.

Coach Yadwinder Singh Sodhi watched the India innings and went to sleep realizing that Harmanpreet had nicely and really turned a nook.

“I had to go to work this morning. But watching her play in her natural style of dominating the opposition bowlers was satisfying. It reminded me of her century (171) against Australia in the semifinals of the 2017 World Cup. I messaged her that ‘when you play your natural attacking game, then the team as well the fans enjoy watching you,’” Sodhi instructed The Indian Express from Adelaide.

Captain @ImHarmanpreet led from the entrance, hammering 143* & bagged the Player of the Match award as #StaffIndia beat England by 88 runs within the 2⃣nd ODI to take an unassailable lead within the collection. 👏 👏 #ENGvIND

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/dmQVpiNH4h pic.twitter.com/lHrfOQDBX7

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 21, 2022

Post that knock towards Australia in 2017, Bhullar had only one century — towards West Indies earlier this 12 months — in 37 innings in ODIs. A T20 International hundred towards New Zealand in 2018 was adopted by one other drought of huge runs. During the Commonwealth Games, she discovered type with two half-centuries, together with a 65 within the remaining, a sport India Women misplaced by 9 runs.

During a difficult part final 12 months, Harmanpreet hung out with coach Sodhi and his household — daughters Sabreen and Mehar and spouse Mandeep — in Adelaide when she was enjoying the Women’s Big Bash League.

Highlights from the second ODI as India seal the collection in Canterbury.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/EkEBrGzmNT

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 22, 2022

“Last year, when she came to Australia to play in the WBBL, she spent a week with us at our Adelaide home. Big scores were not coming from her bat. But at first, we wanted her to be at ease and to relax. It was Diwali time and she celebrated with my family. It helped her get some time away from cricket. She would accompany my wife and daughters sightseeing in Adelaide,” Sodhi remembers.

The coach had one piece of recommendation for Harmanpreet and that was to play her pure attacking sport. “She was overthinking and it resulted in her playing a bit cautious. Later that week, she hit a 40-odd in 18 balls in WBBL. We watched that game in the stadium and I could sense that she had got the rhythm back,” Sodhi mentioned.

What adopted was a turnaround.

In the WBBL, the place she was adjudged because the Player of the match, Bhullar scored 406 runs at a strike charge of 130.96 with three fifty-plus scores and smashed 18 sixes — essentially the most final season. She additionally took 15 wickets.

“Sometimes pressure makes players try new things and that’s what Harman was doing prior to the WBBL. She was trying to score the runs behind the square or square of the wicket and playing shots like the paddle sweep. But then I told her that it was not her game. She is one of the few batters in the game who can clear the boundary at will. She has targeted runs in cow corner and mid-wicket area by stepping out or slog sweeping with success. Harman is kind of a player who derives motivation from fours and sixes and we discussed that there is no harm in trying that off the first ball.”

On Wednesday, Harmanpreet confirmed why she remains to be the most effective strikers of the ball. Her unbeaten 143 contained 18 boundaries and 4 sixes. Harmanpreet scored 45 runs within the deep midwicket area and 43 runs within the deep additional cowl area.

Her childhood coach and Sodhi’s father Kamaldeesh Singh Sodhi too watched the match highlights at his Moga dwelling. “Harmanpreet saw some ups and downs in recent years. I always tell her that a batsman’s life is one ball only. He can hit a six on that ball and can get bowled off that one ball too. She has the right outlook now.”