Important to keep her in good frame of mind, says Harmanpreet

MUMBAI: India top-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues had made a rousing comeback to the T20I team after being left out earlier in the year, including being the leading run-scorer in a victorious Womens Asia Cup campaign.

But Jemimah had a lean time in the recent five-game home series against Australia, making only 28 runs in the first four matches. For the final game at the Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday, Jemimah was left out and Harleen Deol played at number three, making a quick 24 off 16 balls before being run-out.

"We all thought that we should give Jemi a break because we know how important she is. Going forward, it is important that we keep her in that good frame of mind. Batting line-up is something you cannot fix in T20s. I know Jemi was batting at number three for a long time," said India captain Harmanpreet Kaur in the post-match press conference.

At the same time, Harmanpreet stated that having Harleen in the mix provides India flexibility in terms of batting options in the T20I side.

"Harleen is someone who is always ready - be it batting at any spot or just for fielding. Last match (in the fourth T20I), she did not get to bat despite being ready from the start but she was not upset, and was positive (in her body language)," the skipper said.

"She was like, 'whenever I get the opportunity I want to go there and execute'. But I feel if the batting line-up is flexible, that is good and then you have more options to try things. That was the reason we wanted to see how Harleen can bat at number three. She was there, and was getting the momentum. Really happy to see her approach with the bat," she added. IANS

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