Harleen Deol, an attacking right-hand batter and a handy spinner, is being seen as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Though she is yet to become a household name in this cricket-obsessed nation, she is rated-highly by the commentators and experts.
Harleen made her international debut last year before impressing in the Women’s T20 Challenge where she was a standout performer for Trailblazers. The youngster scored back-to-back 30-plus knocks in the tournament and added a tremendous 119-run partnership with opener Smriti Mandhana.
She was also a part of India’s squad in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup where Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. made it to the finals before losing to the hosts Australia. She, however, didn’t get a chance to feature in any game.
After returning to her hometown Chandigarh, Deol is spending time indoors just like anyone else because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Like many other cricketers, Harleen also recently interacted with her fans and followers on Instagram. The women team’s reserved-opener was asked to name her inspiration by one of the fans. In reply, Harleen named India’s legendary wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni as her inspiration and also called him her all-time favourite.
Meanwhile, Dhoni has not played competitive cricket since the end of the 2019 World Cup in England. As soon as the India team was knocked out of the tournament, he sprung a big surprise by taking a sabbatical from the game which is yet to end.
His break would have ended with the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last month. But, the BCCI had to suspend the competition till April 15 amid coronavirus outbreak.
