Women's World Cup 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur highlights significance of team psychologist in helping players

Harmanpreet Kaur opened up on the role of the sports psychologist, Dr. Mugdha Bavare in the Indian women’s team, who has helped her to recover her form in the last two games ahead of the upcoming Women’s World Cup 2022 in New Zealand. The 32-year-old has been struggling to find form in international cricket for a while now and she could manage just 33 runs in the first three ODIs combined against New Zealand. She was dropped for the fourth ODI subsequently and India lost four games in a row as well.

However, she made a dramatic comeback in the fifth ODI against New Zealand scoring a 63-ball 66 and helping India register their first victory of the tour. She continued her good touch with the bat into the warm-up game against South Africa with a century and is looking really good for the big tournament. The bio bubble restrictions and mental fatigue around the international games can be a big factor at the present and even the skipper Mithali Raj had credited the role of a sports physiologist in the dressing room.

The clear ideas I have now got from her has helped: Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet mentioned that the sports psychologist of the Indian team, Dr. Mugdha Bavare has been instrumental in getting their campaign back on track after four continuous losses against New Zealand and noted that the conversations with the doctor were the turning point for her.

“This time, we have Mugdha (Bavare), ma’am, travelling with us, who has helped us a lot, especially in the last four games which we played against New Zealand. We didn’t play as well; my performance wasn’t good and even I went into a shell. The World Cup was coming up and it is very important, as we all know. After that, she spoke to me. Whatever the conversations I had with her, I was actually looking for something like that,” said Harmanpreet in the virtual press conference.

She added that she was stuck with her degrading performances and the pressures around it while the doctor had helped her with clear ideas of what needed to be done. The Indian women won both of their warm-up games against South Africa and the West Indies and will be playing their first game of the World Cup against Pakistan on March six.

“After talking with her, the solutions I got were happening inside my mind but the awareness wasn’t coming as there is a lot of pressure around us about performance and things happening around. The clear ideas I have now got from her, they have really helped me in the last two-three games. Her coming with us really helped us and I am sure it will be helping others in the team too because she is continuously speaking to other players in the team before the match, which is very important and that will really help us,” she added.