Women's World Cup: Harmanpreet Kaur talks up psychologist's role in helping overcome poor form
India Today
Women's World Cup 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur said her sessions with sports psychologist Mugdha Bavare, who has travelled to New Zealand with the team, helped her overcome a lean patch with the bat.
Star India batter Harmanrpeet Kaur on Wednesday cried the role of the team's sports psychologist Mugdha Bavare in helping her overcome a lean just in time for the Women's World Cup, starting March 4 in New Zealand.
Harmanrpeet said she was getting into a shell and sought answers for her troubles and she found them when speaking to Dr. Mugha Bavare during the 5-match ODI series against New Zealand. Harmanpreet managed just 33 runs in the first 3 ODIs against New Zealand and was dropped for the 4th ODI.
Harmanpreet's place in the side was questioned despite the star batter's experience but she bounced back, hitting a crucial 63 in India's only victory against New Zealand in the 5th ODI. Harmanrpeet then built on her form, hitting a match-winning 104 against South Africa women in the warm-up match ahead of the Women's World Cup.
"Mugdha ma'am has been of a lot of help, especially in the last four games which we played against New Zealand where my performance was not good and even I was going into the shell.
"I had things in my mind but I was not aware of it, after talking to her I got the solutions. I got clear ideas after talking to her those things really helped during lat 2-3 games," Harmanpreet told the press on Wednesday.
Captain Mithali Raj had stressed the need for India to travel to major tournaments with a sports psychologist and the senior national team got Dr. Mugdha on board for their tour of New Zealand and the World Cup. Notably, Mithali had spoken about the positive impact of the sports psychologist on the team even as results weren't going their way against New Zealand.
Harmanpreet was one of India's biggest stars during their run to the final of the 2017 Women's World Cup. Her iconic knock of 171 helped India knock out powerhouses Australia in the semi-final.
