Picture Credit: Twitter
India women’s cricketer Harleen Deol pulled off a stunner to dismiss England wicket-keeper Amy Jones in the first T20I against England on Friday and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar had no hesitation in rating it as the "Catch of the Year".
Although India ended on the losing side, Harleen Deol’s acrobatic effort was a talking point for the media and fans around the world. In the 19th over of England innings, Jones hit the ball towards wide long-off and Harleen produced a sensational effort to dismiss the England batter.
Having caught the ball, Harleen realised that the momentum would be taking her over the ropes. The presence of mind from Deol saw her throw the ball up in the air and dive back to complete the catch. These boundary catches are practised a lot in training nowadays and now we know why so much hard work is put into this by the teams.
VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh also hail Harleen for the "brilliant" catch
"That was a brilliant catch @imharleenDeol. Definitely the catch of the year for me!" Tendulkar tweeted. Other former Indian cricketers like VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh also praised Harleen’s effort.
"As good a catch one will ever see on a cricket field, from Harleen Deol. Absolutely top class," Laxman tweeted.
"Take a bow @imharleenDeol that's simply outstanding, keep it up," Harbhajan tweeted.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also shared a video on Twitter. "The result didn't go our way today but here is something special from the game," BCCI tweeted.
India lost the first T20 by 18 runs in a rain-hit game
England scored 177 runs in 20 overs and then restricted India to 54/3 in 8.4 overs before rain stopped the play. Since the DLS par score at that stage was 72, India lost the match by 18 runs. With this win, England took a 1-0 lead in the T20I series with two matches to go. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and India will be looking to bounce back and level the series in the next game.