'I Went Into A Shell': Harmanpreet Kaur Reveals How Having A Sports Psychologist Helped Her Ahead Of World Cup

India vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur has acknowledged the clarity of thought after having conversations with sports psychologist Dr Mugdha Bavare to get 'clear ideas' ahead of the Women's Cricket World Cup.

Harmanpreet's words come after captain Mithali Raj, ahead of the bilateral series against New Zealand, had underlined the importance of having a sports psychologist travelling with the team for a big tournament like the World Cup.

Harmanpreet had been dealing with a lean patch in form ahead of the World Cup, scoring 10, 10 and 13 in the first three ODIs against New Zealand in Queenstown. She was left out of the truncated fourth ODI before showing signs of getting back to her best, scoring 63 off 66 runs in the final ODI followed by 104 off 114 balls in the warm-up match against South Africa.

"This time, we have Mugdha (Bavare) ma'am travelling with us, who has helped us a lot, especially in the last four games which we played against New Zealand. We didn't play as well; my performance wasn't good and even I went into a shell. The World Cup was coming up and it is very important, as we all know. After that, she spoke to me. Whatever the conversations I had with her, I was actually looking for something like that," said Harmanpreet in the virtual press conference.

"After talking with her, the solutions I got were happening inside my mind but the awareness wasn't coming as there is a lot of pressure around us about performance and things happening around. The clear ideas I have now got from her, they have really helped me in last two-three games.

"Her coming with us really helped us and I am sure it will be helping others in the team too because she is continuously speaking to other players in the team before the match, which is very important and that will really help us," added Harmanpreet.

Harmanpreet termed her rough patch in ODI cricket as 'painful' despite trying her best to break the lean run.

"It's painful when I don't make runs. As a cricketer, you are always looking for scoring runs. Nothing is more painful than getting on the field and you're trying to give your 200 percent and unfortunately, you're not able to deliver at that level, as you are expecting from yourself, forget about people who have hopes on me. I think more painful is not getting runs more than other things."

Amidst the tough times, Harmanpreet credited Dr Mugdha and her family for keeping her spirits high.

"It's not about a bada (big) player or chota (small) player feeling. It's the same for every player. Mugdha played a very big role when I was not getting runs. She came to me, she talked to me about what's happening and how I can find a way out. After that, my family was supporting me, they were continuously talking to me. Those things helped me a lot."

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Harmanpreet, 32, signed off by hoping to continue the good showings from the last two matches into the World Cup. "When things are not in favour of you, many people start talking. But the good thing in it is that people who are close to me gave me confidence. I am really thankful for them. When the going is tough, positive thinking and getting good confidence plays an important role. They played a very big role in my life as they held my hand and now, I am getting back to my rhythm, I just hope to continue with it."