Harmanpreet Kaur Under Fire As India Falls To Sri Lanka In Women's Asia Cup Final

Sri Lanka made history on Sunday, July 28, by winning their first Women's T20 Asia Cup title, defeating India by eight wickets.

India set a competitive target of 165 for 6, thanks to Smriti Mandhana's half-century. Mandhana scored 60 runs, with Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues adding quick contributions. However, these efforts fell short against Sri Lanka's determined chase.

Sri Lanka's openers Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama were instrumental in the victory. Both delivered fighting half-centuries, with Athapaththu scoring 61 and Samarawickrama remaining unbeaten at 69. Kavisha Dilhari also played a crucial role with her all-round performance.

The turning point came in the fifth over when Athapaththu targeted Tanuja Kanwar, scoring 16 runs off the over. Harmanpreet Kaur's decision to bowl Radha Yadav and Kanwar against the left-handed Athapaththu and Samarawickrama was questioned as Athapaththu amassed 29 runs off the left-arm spinners at a strike rate of 170.58.

When Deepti Sharma bowled Athapaththu in the 12th over, Sri Lanka still needed 72 runs from 48 balls. Samarawickrama's unbeaten 69, combined with Dilhari's quickfire 30 off 16 balls, led Sri Lanka to a memorable victory.

The loss triggered a wave of criticism on Twitter, with many fans pointing fingers at Harmanpreet Kaur's captaincy. One user harshly commented, "Harmanpreet Kaur failed as a batter, flopped as a captain with poor decisions, and then flopped as a fielder. She needs to step up and take responsibility," posted an X user named Vipintiwari952.

Social Media Reactions

Another user, KirkutExpert99, sarcastically listed potential excuses Kaur might give for the loss: "What excuses will Harmanpreet Kaur give this time? The ball was too round. The grass was too green. The sun was too bright. The wind was too strong. The crowd was too loud. Come on, we deserve better!"

The sentiment for a change in leadership was echoed by another tweet from Shebas_10dulkar: "With Women's T20WC in a few months, time for Team India to move on from Harmanpreet Kaur. Today she failed as a batter and fielder, and also flopped as a captain with so many poor decisions!"

Another user criticised the overall team performance: "The Indian Women's cricket team bottled an easy win #AsiaCup finals. Absolutely disappointing. Harmanpreet Kaur dropped an important catch. Need to move on from Harman's captaincy."

A post on X from ProteinKohliLyf reflected on past performances: "We have seen it before, Harmanpreet Kaur's attitude is very bad; she made us lose two important matches in a row; Mumbai lobby are the curse for the country."

Sri Lanka finished at 167 for 2, sealing their victory emphatically with Samarawickrama remaining unbeaten at 69 and Athapaththu scoring 61.