Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian Women’s cricket team skipper, has spoken about the impact former Indian men’s cricket team captains, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, have had on her captaincy. Ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup starting in South Africa on February 10, Kaur shared her thoughts on how these two legends of the game have influenced her leadership style.
Kaur acknowledged the brilliance of both Ganguly and Dhoni and how they took the Indian cricket team to new heights. She explained how she has learned a lot from watching old footage of Dhoni and tries to pick up small things that can help her and her team on the field.
“MS Dhoni, we know how clever he was on the field. Today, if you watch his (Dhoni’s) old match videos, you can still learn a lot of things from him. I have learned a lot from Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. I always try to pick up small things that can help me and the team on the field. They have played a big role in my life when we talk about captaincy,” Kaur said.
“The way they led the team is something I really follow. When Sourav was leading the team, Indian men’s cricket was growing. The way he (Sourav) was changing the atmosphere (in the dressing room) and trusting and backing the players,” she added.
India is set to face arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening match on February 12 and have two warm-up games against Australia and Bangladesh on February 6 and February 8 respectively. The Women in Blue are placed in Group 2 along with West Indies, England, Ireland, and Pakistan and would be hoping to qualify and make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
