Asian Games: We will have this gold medal with us forever, says Harmanpreet

Harmanpreet Kaur has done what no one else can claim to have done, or may do for a while — be the captain of an Asian Games-winning cricket team twice in a row. And she has the medals to prove it.

Firm favourite to defend its title at the Korogi Athletics Park even before the team landed in Tokyo, and coming after the high of clinching the Asia Cup, the gulf between the Women in Blue and the rest was far too wide.

But even the Indians would not have expected the kind of domination they managed in the final, packing off Sri Lanka for a 147-run victory.

“As cricketers, we always wanted to be a part of the Asian Games or Commonwealth Games or Olympics, because otherwise we only play cricket tournaments or bilateral series. We did not know the value of what a medal actually means; we had no experience of that, but we are grateful to have the opportunity to experience this.

“We are lucky to have done it twice now because the cricketers before us did not have this. Now we can also frame two medals back home because when we win a trophy, it feels good but it goes to the BCCI office. This is something we will have with us forever… this is ours,” Harmanpreet said on Tuesday.

That the team’s gold was also the first for India at the ongoing Games only made it extra special.

“Since we came here, our aim was to win gold and see the national flag high… [we] talked about the national anthem playing. But we didn’t know we would be the first to experience it here. We are just lucky and grateful for this because there were other athletes over the past two days who could have done it and came close. But I am sure that we have opened the golden gates. There will be many more [gold medals] coming through for India from all the different sports. We will be rooting for them,” she declared.

Shreyanka Patil, returning from an ankle injury that kept her out of the Asia Cup, was elated to be back playing.

“It’s very hard when you have back-to-back injuries and then you’re out for a while and come back. If you stay positive and keep telling you can do it, anything is possible. When I was out there, I was full of happiness and I just couldn’t express it. I was all around jumping, roaming, talking, everyone was like, ‘O, Shrey is back,’”she laughed.

“It’s my first time holding a gold medal… so I’m really grateful and happy. The whole campaign was good for us. We’ve done really well with the ball and the bat. But most of all, I’m just happy to be back on the field,” she added.

Smriti Mandhana, whose 45-ball 79 laid the foundation for India’s success, was more measured in her reaction, her ambitions clearly much bigger than continental domination.

“I feel everyone played really good cricket. Having said that, we all have to look forward and work on ourselves and keep getting better. We have to keep playing good cricket against better opposition. We can’t dwell on this win a lot, we have to see what we can do for the next 1.5-2 years to get in the best place to win an Olympic medal,” she declared.