"Don't Want Country To See My Crying": Harmanpreet Kaur On Why She Wore Sunglasses After Australia Loss

Indian women's cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was left distraught after her team slumped to a narrow defeat against Australia in the semi-finals of the Women's T20 World Cup in Cape Town on Thursday. Harmanpreet slammed a brilliant half-century and along with Jemimah Rodrigues, she looked well on course to guide her team to victory. However, she was dismissed due to a freak run-out and India suffered a mini batting collapse to fall just short of the target. At the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet came sporting sunglasses and when the presenter asked about her glasses, she said that it was hide her teams as she does not want the fans to see them.

“I don't want my country to see my crying, hence I am wearing these glasses, I promise, we will improve and won't let out nation down like this again,” Harmanpreet said after the match.

“The way I got run out, (it) can't be unluckier than that. Putting the effort was important and we were happy to go to the last ball. We wanted to fight till the last ball,” she added.

India wilted under the pressure of a knock-out game yet again after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's freak run out as defending champions Australia entered their seventh successive Women's T20 World Cup final with a five-run win.

India's shoddy fielding and catching allowed Australia to post a challenging 172 for four after Meg Lanning opted to bat in the semifinal. At 28 for three, India were down and out but Harmanpreet (52 off 34) and Jemimah Rodrigues (43 off 24) produced a counter-attacking 69-run stand off just 41 balls to bring the team back in the game.

India needed a very gettable 39 off last 30 balls with five wickets in hand but as it has been the case in the past, the team came up short to finish at 167 for eight.

“Can't feel unluckier than this. We got the momentum back with Jemi (Rodrigues). To lose from here, we weren't expecting this,” said Harmanpreet as she struggled for words after the shattering loss. We played some good cricket. Today was something where we wanted to play our natural game. Few of us did that.” she told the presenter when asked about the team effort.