I'm absolutely very proud – Harmanpreet Kaur on India’s humdinger chase against Australia

India scripted an iconic win against Australia in the semi-final of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025, courtesy of a humdinger chase spearheaded by Jemimah Rodrigues. Apart from Jemi, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur also played a fine innings, scoring 89 from 88 balls, hammering 10 fours and two sixes. She was also a part of the 167-runs stand for the third wicket that laid the foundation for India’s win.

Talking at the post-match conference, Kaur opened up about the raw emotions following the game. She also highlighted how India turned things around, learning from their earlier mistakes while explaining the overall mindset to go through the chase. She had reserved very special praise for Jemi who was the star of the Indian show.

Shedding light on the emotions, Kaur said, “Yeah, I'm absolutely very proud. I don't have words to express myself but I'm feeling great. This time we have passed that line which we have been working hard for so many years. It's an amazing feeling.”

Revealing her discussions with coach Amol Muzumdar, Kaur added, “We spoke to each other that we have done this. We have been working so hard and both of us are really proud of this team and we have that trust that each and every player can win any match, any time, in any situation. We made a few mistakes in this tournament but at the end of the day we have been learning from our mistakes and today was the day where we wanted to do everything in our favor in every situation. We were working hard. We kept telling ourselves to be there for the team and I think that really worked for us.”

She also talked about how India managed to bounce back after three consecutive losses, stating, “That day we had realized that we didn't execute ourselves really well, especially the last five overs. We were late by two or three overs. We could have taken a bit more risk a few overs earlier but I think that really cost us and that's what we all discussed in the team room that we had to really be calculative because once you are out of the game it's very hard to come back, because I know it's a 50-over game, you have a lot of chances to keep coming back if you're making mistakes but the last five overs are something where you have to be very particular. You have to be very calculative. I think we all knew what we had to do. If we again come in, again in the same situation and today was the same thing, we wanted to finish this before the 50th over and that exactly happened.”

She would then shift her focus to Jemimah Rodrigues’ mind-blowing innings and the partnership that the two knitted together, stating, “Jemimah is someone who always wants to do really well for the team because she is someone who is always very calculative and wants to take the responsibility and we always have that trust on her and today was a very special knock from her. We both had a very good time on the pitch. Whenever we were batting, we were just complimenting each other and calculating and she was doing all the calculations there for me and I think that was something she is always in the game and I really enjoy batting with her. Before I go, she always keeps telling me, we've got five runs, we've got two more balls left. So before I say anything, she is already saying it to me. So I think that shows how involved she is and I was just so amazed to see what she was thinking and how she was even pushing myself. So I think we should give a lot of credit to her for the way she kept her hold and kept batting for the team.”