Harmanpreet Kaur biography
| Birth | 8 March 1989 |
| Age | 35 years |
| Nickname | Harry, Harman |
| Height | 5 ft 3 inch |
| Profession | Cricketer |
| Batting style | Right-handed batter |
| Bowling style | Right-arm off spin bowler |
| Test debut | 2014 |
| ODI debut | 2009 |
| T20I debut | 2009 |
| WPL debut | 2023 |
| Twitter/x | @ImHarmanpreet |
| @imharmanpreet_kaur | |
| Awards | Arjuna Award |
The current captain of the Indian women’s team across formats, Harmanpreet Kaur became a household name in 2017 when she crafted what is generally considered the greatest innings in women’s cricket. Those were the days when beating Australia in World Cups was considered nigh impossible. India walked into the 2017 ODI World Cup as firm underdogs. The match was reduced to a 42 overs a side affair and batting first, India found themselves struggling at 35/2 in the tenth over.
Then came a Harmanpreet special. She smashed an unbeaten 171 off just 115 balls, her innings studded with 20 fours and seven sixes as India defeated the mighty Australia to qualify for the final of the ODI World Cup. In a lot of ways, that innings is considered to be the key influence behind the fans getting behind the women’s team.
Born in Moga, Punjab, her father’s passion for the game rubbed on to Harmanpreet who used to send boys much older to her on a leather hunt in gully cricket. She was a fast bowling allrounder in her early days, but slowly improved her batting and also turned to off-spin on her father’s insistence. It turned out to be a masterstroke. And soon Harmanpreet became the cornerstone of India’s middle order.
Harmanpreet made her ODI debut in a high stakes clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in 2009 when she was barely 20 and a few months later found herself making her T20I debut against England in a T20 World Cup game no less. Harmanpreet made her Test debut five years later against England in Wormsley, a game that India famously ended up winning.
In her 15-year international career, Harmanpreet has notched up several accolades. The 2016-17 season ended up being a vital one for her when she was handed the captaincy reins. Soon, she led India to their sixth straight Asia Cup crown, without dropping a game.
Harmanpreet became the first Indian cricketer to be signed by a foreign T20 league when she was picked up by Sydney Thunder in the WBBL. In her debut season, she won the player of the tournament award. Months later, she became the first Indian to sign up with Surrey Stars ECB’s Women’s Cricket League. Harmanpreet was conferred with the Arjuna Award by the Indian government in 2017.
Harmanpreet Kaur in the WPL
Harmanpreet fetched big money at the WPL auction and that came as no surprise considering the stature that she has in women’s cricket. She was picked up for INR 1.8 crore by Mumbai Indians. She repaid the faith by captaining the side to the title in the inaugural season of the WPL. She was the second-highest run-scorer for Mumbai in 2023 while in the 2024 season, Harmanpreet was the top run getter for the team. She also played a key hand in the final of WPL 2023 scoring a vital 37.
Harmanpreet Kaur in international cricket
| Format | Debut | Last | |||
| Test | vs ENG Women vs IND Women at Wormsley – August 13 – 16, 2014 | vs IND Women vs SA Women at Chennai – June 28 – July 01, 2024 | |||
| ODI | vs Pak Women vs Ind Women at Bowral – March 7, 2009 | vs SA Women vs IND Women at Bengaluru – June 23, 2024 | |||
| T20I | IND Women vs ENG Women at Taunton – June 11, 2009 | vs IND Women vs SL Women at Dambulla – July 28, 2024 | |||
| IPL | vs Gujarat Giants at DY Patil Stadium, March 4, 2023 | vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Arun Jaitley Stadium, March 15, 2024 | |||
Harmanpreet made her ODI and T20I debuts in 2009, while her Test debut came in 2014. In six Tests, she has scored 200 runs at an average of 25.00 with one fifty to her name. She has also picked 12 wickets with her off-spin. She picked nine wickets in a Test match against South Africa in 2015 leading her team to victory.
In ODI cricket, Harmanpreet has scored 3565 runs in 133 outings at an average of 37.52 and a strike rate of 73.65. She has also scored 18 fifties and six centuries. Along with that, Harmanpreet has also picked 16 wickets. She has a terrific record in T20I cricket as well.
In September 2022, she won the ICC player of the month award while in April 2023, she became the first Indian woman to be named the Wisden cricketer of the year in 2022.
Harmanpreet Kaur in T20Is and WPL
Batting
| Format | Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | 100s | 50s | Average |
| T20I | 173 | 153 | 3426 | 103 | 1 | 12 | 28.08 |
| T20 | 288 | 262 | 6357 | 103 | 1 | 29 | 31.78 |
| WPL | 17 | 16 | 549 | 95* | 0 | 5 | 45.75 |
Bowling
| Format | Matches | Innings | Wickets | BBI | Economy | Strike Rate |
| T20I | 173 | 62 | 32 | 4/23 | 6.27 | 23.7 |
| T20 | 288 | 109 | 68 | 4/23 | 6.90 | 20.4 |
The T20I format is the one which resonates the most with the attacking style of Harmanpreet’s batting. She made her debut in the format in 2009 but it wasn’t till 2013 that she was able to find a consistent run in the national side. She scored her maiden half-century against Australia in 2012. Her maiden T20I century came in a T20 World Cup game against West Indies in 2018 and in the last few years, she has really become a very important member of the Indian middle order.
Harmanpreet has played 173 T20 International games in which she has scored 3426 runs at an average of 28.08 which includes 12 fifties and a century. She has also picked 32 wickets in the format at an economy of 6.27. In all, Harmanpreet has played 288 T20 matches and scored 6357 runs at an average of 31.58 with 29 fifties and a ton.
In the WPL, Harmanpreet is the fourth-highest run getter in the tournament with 549 runs in 17 innings. She started the tournament with a bang scoring a winning 30-ball 65 in the very first game against Gujarat Giants in 2023. She was adjudged player of the match in that game and she continued her excellent form through the tournament. In the second season, Harmanpreet smashed an emphatic 95 not out in one of the games.
Harmanpreet Kaur in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup
| Matches | Runs | Highest Score | 100s | 50s | Strike Rate | Average | Wickets | Economy |
| 35 | 576 | 103 | 1 | 2 | 107.66 | 20.57 | 11 | 5.34 |
Harmanpreet is one of the best batters going around in women’s cricket at the moment. But that hasn’t always come out in T20 World Cups. She has a middling record at best in the tournament, scoring 576 runs in 35 matches at an average of 20.57. She has taken 11 wickets though at an excellent economy of 5.34 but she hasn’t been regularly bowling in T20Is of late. Harmanpreet had the honour of leading India in the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup at the MCG when 86,174 fans turned up. She will captain India at the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 as well.
Harmanpreet in ICC Women’s World Cups from 2009 to 2023
| Year | Matches | Runs | Average | 50s/100s | Wickets | Host Country |
| 2009 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0/0 | 0 | England |
| 2010 | 4 | 28 | 14 | 0/0 | – | West Indies |
| 2012 | 4 | 26 | 8.66 | 0/0 | – | Sri Lanka |
| 2014 | 4 | 94 | 31.33 | 1/0 | 3 | Bangladesh |
| 2016 | 4 | 89 | 22.25 | 0/0 | 7 | India |
| 2018 | 5 | 183 | 45.75 | 1/0 | 1 | West Indies |
| 2020 | 5 | 30 | 6 | 0/0 | – | Australia |
| 2023 | 5 | 118 | 23.60 | 1/0 | – | South Africa |
Harmanpreet Kaur’s first stint at the T20 World Cup was in 2009. She did not have an impact at all managing just eight runs in four games. In 2010 as well, she could only score 28 runs in four games. Then came the 2012 World Cup where all she could manage was 26 runs in four outings. She went marginally better in 2014 where she scored her maiden T20 World Cup fifty and also picked three wickets.
In 2016 Harmanpreet did not have much of an effect with the bat, but did manage to pick up seven wickets. Harmanpreet’s best T20 World Cup was in 2018 when she scored 183 runs in five outings which included a scintillating century. She finished with an average of 45.75. During the last T20 World Cup in South Africa, Harmanpreet had an average of 23.60.
While Harmanpreet might not have great numbers in T20 cricket World Cups overall, but there is little denying that she is one of the most important people in this line-up and her captaincy and batting will be very crucial in determining how far India go in the World Cup in the UAE.
