3 Reasons Why IND Vs SL Women's T20 World Cup Match Is Crucial For Harmanpreet Kaur's Career

Harmanpreet in action [Source: @_harrykaur7_/X.Com]

India are set to take on Sri Lanka in a crucial Women's T20 World Cup group stage action on Wednesday. After losing against New Zealand in a one-sided contest, the India women bounced back to defeat arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.

However, due to the heavy loss against New Zealand, their net run-rate is still in minus and the path to the semis has become more difficult. India, have two matches remaining and one of them will be against Sri Lanka. The same team who defeated the Harmanpreet Kaur led India side in the Asia Cup finals, a couple of months ago. If India lose the contest, they'll be out of the tournament.

Hence, the big question arises, will the crucial match against Sri Lanka ruin Harmanpreet's legacy if India lose the contest? The answer is yes. Hence, we note down 3 reasons as to why the match becomes crucial for her.

3) T20I Captaincy will be snatched away

The answer is simple, if India crash out of the T20 World Cup, Harmanpreet's captaincy will be taken away. She has done well in the past as a leader of the group, but this current crop of players are the most talented bunch the India Women's side has ever seen.

Hence, losing to Sri Lanka and getting knocked out in the group stage itself will be a big blow for India and Harmanpreet Kaur. Plus, Smriti Mandhana, the vice-captain of the India side is ready to step up and should be awarded with the captaincy armband, if India loses on Wednesday.

2) Should be dropped from the T20I side

With no captaincy armband, selectors need to make a bold call regarding Harmanpreet's place in the side. As talented as Harmanpreet Kaur is, she truly hasn't justified her skills in the game's shortest format.

In 175 T20I matches, the India skipper has only amassed 3470 runs, but the strike-rate is questionable. She strikes at a mere 107.60. She is a power-packed batter and striking at 107 isn't helping the team's cause. The India women's team has plenty of hitters and they should be integrated in the T20I setup.

1) Legacy will be ruined

7 years ago, Harmanpreet Kaur played one of the greatest innings by an Indian, when she slammed a brilliant 171 against Australia in the 2017 World Cup. Since then, she has played a handful of innings at the highest level, and has also created a great legacy, but that will all be ruined if India crash out of the group stage itself.

Remember how Rahul Dravid was blamed for India's shocking group stage exit in 2007 World Cup? Prior to that, he led India to some memorable wins, but one bad tournament and he was termed as a poor leader. If India indeed loses to Sri Lanka, Harmanpreet could suffer the same fate as Dravid.

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