India captain Harmanpreet Kaur spoke on Team India’s surprising defeat to England in the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 on Sunday, October 19. Despite being in control of the 289-run chase against the English side at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, the Women in Blue choked at the death to concede the contest by four runs.
This was India’s third straight loss in the ongoing World Cup, after suffering defeats to Australia and South Africa in their previous two matches. India’s road to the semifinals is getting tough, and they are now in a must-win territory in their final two games to reach the semis on their own.
Kaur, who had put up a 125-run stand with Smriti Mandhana, spoke on the loss, saying that her deputy’s wicket was the turning point of the game. Mandhana made 88 but was dismissed at a crucial juncture when the Women in Blue needed 55 runs from 53 balls.
“I think Smriti’s wicket was something which was a turning point for us, and I still think we had too many batters. I don’t know how things went the other way, but credit goes to England. They didn’t lose. They kept bowling well and kept getting wickets there,” Kaur said at the post-match presentation.
The Indian skipper also spoke on the hindsight of having an extra batter as they went with an extra bowler in Renuka Singh Thakur for Jemimah Rodrigues for this clash. “These things will keep going because I think things were under control when Smriti and I were batting. And I think Smriti’s wicket was turning for us. But still, we had Richa, Amanjot and Deepti, who have won games for us in the past. But unfortunately, today we were not able to make it,” she added.
Kaur was left heartbroken for losing the game despite having ticked all the boxes in the chase. “It (the feeling) is bad because you have put in so much hard work and you kept ticking the box till the end, but the last 5-6 overs didn’t go according to your plan. That’s the worst, but it’s definitely a very heartbreaking moment. We are playing good cricket, and we are not giving up. But that last line we have to cross now because it’s been the last three games where we showed up with good cricket,” Kaur said.
The skipper highlighted that the future games are very crucial for them. “Even though we ended up losing, we really played good cricket, and we haven’t given anyone anything easily. But now the next game is very important and hopefully it will go our way,” she concluded.
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