We have a great team – Harmanpreet Kaur on India’s exhilarating triumph in Women’s Asia Cup

As the Indian women secured their eighth Women’s Asia Cup title, Captain Harmanpreet Kaur was absolutely delighted.

India trumped over Sri Lanka in the final, courtesy of a superlative all-round performance. Talking at the pre-match presentation, Kaur opened up on India’s triumph in the tournament while lauding the opening partnership of 129 runs that defined the game.

Shedding light about the raw emotions of the win, Kaur said, “We feel this way because we know how much potential we have, and we have a great team. I think we played to our standards because that's what we discussed when we came here: we have certain standards, and we have to keep matching them every day. And we are very happy with the way we all performed. And I think the girls have done fabulously well throughout the entire tournament, setting 184 in a final. That's a big thing.”

Explaining the salience of the opening stand between Verma and Mandhana, Kaur added, “Yes, definitely. We all knew it's not that easy to come back, but I think our openers did an absolutely great job for us, the way they both batted, Smriti and Shafali. I think Shafali had a very great tournament, and it's good to see somebody like Shafali taking responsibility and doing the job with bat and ball. And I mean, I can't ask anything else from them. It's all about playing good cricket, and at the end of the day, I'm very happy overall.”

Issuing a message for the crowd, who backed India vociferously, Kaur stated, “I think I've been telling that they are our biggest support. Wherever we go, they're always there to support us, and I think in front of them we always want to play great cricket and hope we are able to, you know, entertain them with our great performance. And I'm sure today, it's good to see a lot of smiles, a lot of, you know, people enjoying their performance, and hopefully we'll keep continuing that.”

She concluded by talking about the celebrations, Kaur added, “Yes, definitely. As I mentioned, we set some really high standards for us, and we had to match them, you know, every day, and I'm pretty happy with the way we all came up together.”