Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar is the current captain of the women’s Indian cricket team. Harmanpreet plays as an all-rounder for the team and is famous for hitting big strokes across the boundary. Harman has become a global icon for women in sports. Her life and career trajectory is a saga of the struggles faced by a woman to make a mark in a male-dominant society playing a male-dominant sport.
Harman received the Arjuna Award, in 2017 from the ministry of youth affairs and sports.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s Personal Life
Harmanpreet’s father, Harmandar Singh Bhullar, is a volleyball and basketball player serving as a clerk in a court, and her mother, Satwinder Kaur, is a homemaker. Harman has a younger sister, Hemjeet Kaur, who is a post-graduate in English and works as an assistant professor at Guru Nanak College in Moga. Her nickname is Harman.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s Early Life
Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar was born in Moga, Punjab on 8TH March 1989. 8th march is also International Women’s Day, so it was her destiny to become an icon for all women. Harmanpreet, in her childhood, was always into sports, particularly cricket. Initially, she used to play the game with boys and that’s when she was noticed by her school principal, who then put together a girls’ team in the school.
This was a turning point in Harmanpreet Kaur’s education. She was stepping towards a different path. Kaur’s father was her first sports coach. She then began professional cricket training at one of the town’s only two female training centers, Gian Jyoti School Academy, where Kamaldeesh Singh Sodhi trained her. She used to watch cricket on television and her favorite player was Virendra Sehwag.
Kaur made her international debut at the age of 20 for the women’s Indian cricket team in March 2009 in an ODI match against Pakistan’s women’s team. Harmanpreet Kaur’s T20I world cup debut was in June 2009 against England.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s Life Achievements
The all-rounder and big hitter Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar has many achievements in her account. She worked for Western Railways as the chief office superintendent until she was relieved of her duties at her own request. In addition, she had a short stint as the DSP in the Punjab police.
- Harman received the Arjuna Award, India’s second-highest sports honor, in 2017.
- Her most admired achievement is when she scored 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 women’s world cup, the second-highest score from an Indian batter in a women’s ODI.
- She became the first Indian woman to score a century in a T20 international match in 2018.
- She became the first Indian cricket, male or female, to play 100 matches in the T20 format of the game in a match against South Africa.
- Harmanpreet is the first Indian woman to sign the Big Bash League of Australia with the team Sydney Thunder.
- In 2017, she became the second Indian batter to be ranked in the top 10 of the ICC women’s ODI player ranking.
- In July 2022, she was named the captain of India’s team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar is undoubtedly an inspiration to all women across the world. Her stepping out of gender boundaries and making a reputation for herself in a largely male-oriented game is a victory for all women. She has led the team progressively and innovatively and is expected to continue the deed.
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