- Advertisement -
“ Hum bane hi hai udne ke liye. Thairaav ayega par hum udna nahi bhulenge (I’m made for flying. There will be obstacles, but I’ll never forget how to fly).”
With an imperious displaying with bat and ball for Mumbai Indians in opposition to Royal Challengers Bengaluru right here, Amanjot Kaur has lastly taken flight within the Ladies’s Premier League.
Her match-winning knock of 34 not out off 27 balls and three/22 figures with the ball not solely earned her the ‘Player of the Match’ award however validated her popularity as a reliable allround choice for the MI administration to offer extra possibilities to this season.
ALSO READ | Harmanpreet, Amanjot assist Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 4 wickets
Amanjot’s first likelihood to make an impression on this sport got here within the 14th over of the RCB batting innings. Two set batters —Richa Ghosh and Ellyse Perry — had been rebuilding the house aspect’s innings after an early wobble. Whereas handing her statemate the ball, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s message to the 25-year-old was clear.
“Our plan was simple. We don’t want to leak runs. We had put the pressure on them and taken some early wickets. And the wicket was very good for batting. We tried to cut the boundaries and bowl stump-to-stump, according to the field and slightly slower,” Amanjot informed reporters after the match.
The plan labored immediately. Cramping batters for area, Amanjot lastly received the higher of Richa, with the keeper-batter watching her off stump skittled after being overwhelmed by a size supply.
After sending a doubtlessly harmful Georgia Wareheam again to the hut for a low rating, Amanjot was dealt with the ball for the essential final over. She conceded two boundaries, in making an attempt to make use of the yorker and the leg cutter. Amanjot had the snigger final, taking the prized wicket of Perry, who departed for a 43-ball 81.
In a venue that loves its chases, a goal of 168 was inside attain. All MI wanted had been partnerships. Amanjot paired up with Harmanpreet to swing momentum of their aspect’s favour when the going received powerful.
“Our plan was simple. We don’t want to leak runs.”
| Picture Credit score:
Okay. Murali Kumar/The Hindu
“Our plan was simple. We don’t want to leak runs.”
| Picture Credit score:
Okay. Murali Kumar/The Hindu
With MI at 82/4 on the midway mark, the Kaur duo stitched a 62-run partnership for the fifth wicket which steadied the customer. Nonetheless, Wareham struck within the 18th over with two wickets in two balls, together with the important thing scalp of Harmanpreet.
Amanjot’s spirits didn’t shake. In spite of everything, she had her skipper’s belief.
Driving on that perception, she smacked Kanika Ahuja — a bowler she is aware of out and in from the years spent collectively within the home circuit — for a few sixes within the penultimate over.
“I knew it was either Ekta di or a new bowler because others had already bowled out,” Amanjot recalled.
“I didn’t want to drag the match to the 20th over, because pressure can affect our shots. I wanted to finish the match in the 19th over, or at least take it to run-a-ball because the new batter will take time to settle down. I didn’t want the pressure to fall on them. And I knew if Kanika came to bowl, I would know her style because I have played with her a lot.”
Blessing in disguise
Amanjot was coming into the third version of the WPL on the again of an extended harm lay-off, which saved her out of motion for greater than six months. Final Might, she suffered a stress fracture and a ligament tear in her hand, which required surgical procedure. Whereas she did spend the primary few weeks of her time away from cricket in disbelief, the participant checked out it positively.
“Those 6-8 months were quite crucial for me. I have no regrets, rather I feel blessed and grateful that that phase came to my life. I got to learn a lot. That phase had two people, Nagesh sir and Tanuja ma’am, both of whom must have cried tears of joy tonight. They were with me throughout my injury. Both of them will sleep well tonight,” a smiling Amanjot stated.
“In the first few weeks of my injury, I used to annoy my trainers a lot. I never expected to get injured because I maintain my fitness, my diet, and I like going to the gym. There wasn’t any change in the mindset. There was cricket happening all around and I was surrounded by people like Riyan Parag, Khaleel Ahmed, even Surya bhai, who would talk about matches.”Amanjot Kaur
Nagesh Gupta and Tanuja Lele are Amanjot’s coach and energy and conditioning coach respectively.
“It was important to make her realise that it was going to take time,” Nagesh, who’s been Amanjot’s coach since 2016, informed Sportstar on the participant’s harm interval. “Instead of crying about it, we told her to accept it as a challenge. I told her to pick up some life and cricket skills she can learn off the field. She did that which helped her to be humble.”
ALSO READ | From Motibaug to Kotambi: Vadodara’s cricket ardour finds a brand new residence
The Senior Ladies’s ODI Challenger Trophy was the primary match she performed after recovering, the place she completed with 97 runs and took six wickets in 4 matches. After that got here the WPL camp.
“At NCA, I used to get calls from Kiran [More] sir asking me whether I needed something. As soon as I finished the Challenger, I called him and asked whether I could come early since Chandigarh’s cold made the wickets wet there. He called me to Vadodara and I started my camp there. I knew there would be more responsibility on me because Pooja [Vastrakar] is not there this time,” Amanjot stated.
Friday night time’s allround outing was a welcome change for Amanjot after a disappointing final season within the WPL. In accordance with Nagesh, his ward did effectively to take the chance by the scruff of its neck.
“In Mumbai Indians, you don’t get a lot of chances because of the quality of their allrounders. Amanjot got the opportunity and she did well. She’s a complete package and a versatile player, if used well.”
“Blessed, blessed. Many more to come,” Amanjot, crossing her fingers, stated after the match. “I want to carry the momentum from tonight and be able to finish matches, be it for MI, for India, or for any team I play for.”
- Advertisement -