'Feeling really good that I'm the Player of the Match in a World Cup match. People in my village would be proud. They've put on a big LED screen to watch the match.'
India's young speedster Kranti Gaud, who dazzled with her blistering pace, revealed how her insistence on keeping a second slip, a move that was against skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's idea, proved to be valuable in Aliya Riaz's dismissal during the ongoing Women's World Cup match against Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday.
While defending 247, India restricted Pakistan's batters, limiting their scoring rate in the powerplay. While Pakistan batters struggled to muster runs on the board, India had to wait for the perfect opportunity to scythe wickets. Pakistan crawled to 26/2 after 11 overs, and Harmanpreet looked to switch the tactics to push for wickets.
Having dismissed opener Sadaf Shamas off her own bowling, she backed her instincts to fetch the wicket of Aliya Riaz, leaving Pakistan reeling at 3/20.
Before the 12th over, Harmanpreet urged Kranti to take off the second slip, however, the 22-year-old remained persistent about keeping it.
On the first ball of the over, Aliya, with a reckless shot, sent the ball straight to Deepti Sharma, stationed at the second slip. She pointed towards Harmanpreet with a smile on her face, subtly indicating, 'I told you so,' as Aliya returned with a sluggish 2(8).
"Didi (Harmanpreet) told me let's remove one slip as the ball has gotten older, but I asked her to keep it there (a catch was taken there)," Kranti said in the post-match presentation.
With zip off the pitch, she rattled the top-order, which included the wickets of Sadaf Shamas and Aliya Riyaz inside the first ten overs, which put Pakistan on the back foot.
"Yes, the ball was swinging earlier as well, and even later it kept swinging -- I didn't quite understand it myself! One ball swung in sharply. Then when I came on for my second spell, Harman said, 'It's an old ball now, let's remove the slip.' But I told her, 'No, let me bowl with the slip for now -- I feel like I can get a wicket here'. And that's exactly what happened -- I got the second wicket. I had that belief in myself," she further explained in the post-match press conference.
Asked about her conversations with India's bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi, Goud said, "Right now, the bowling coach hasn't told me anything about my speed."
"Our focus is on maintaining a consistent line and length, not trying to do too much. I'm comfortable with my pace at the moment, but I want to bowl faster."
Harmanpreet was in all praise while reflecting on Kranti's performance in her first World Cup appearance and said after the match, "Very happy, very important game for all of us, and I'm sure everyone back home is happy as well. Our bowling was great. Kranti bowled really well; she was outstanding, and Renuka helped her get the breakthroughs. We created so many chances, unfortunately, we dropped them, but in the end, when you win, you are happy."
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