What did you do on your last birthday?
There could be many exciting responses to that question, but India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has set the bar too high for this one (just like she does for every thing else).
Born on this day in 1989, she is leading her country to the final of the T20 World Cup for the first time in history.
This, of course, is the stuff dreams are made of, and Harmanpreet doesn’t want any thing on her special day except that elusive World Cup trophy.
She was part of the squad that missed out on the World Cup victory in 2017 by 9 runs. She still carries that pain inside her.
On the bright side though, she was also the part of the playing 11 in the semi-final of the same tournament and single-handedly stopped Australia (opponents for the final) from proceeding by playing her iconic 171-run innings.
If India win the tournament today, it will be the women team’s first World Cup trophy and God knows we have waited for it.
Harmanpreet, most of all.
Interestingly enough, she made her T20I debut at the World Cup in 2009, which was the inaugural edition of the tournament.
11 years on, the same girl is the captain of the side, owing to her masterclass performances through the years which is as inspiring as it gets.
Yes, her form in the tournament has been a matter of concern, as she has not been able to contribute much with the bat – but there is no denying that her role as the captain has been very important and she has performed that very well.
It’s no joke that the team that has reached the final unbeaten, right?