The Indian women’s cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur reveals a heartwarming incident around MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina during the India tour of Australia in 2016-17. The incident happened when the women’s team was playing a double header in Australia and the Indian men’s team were set to play at the same venue. At that time, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina complemented Harmanpreet Kaur for her batting and her aggressive nature on field. That interaction really caught the Indian skipper off guard as she didn’t even think that they would watch women’s games.

“Back in 2016–17 in Australia, we were playing a double header. After our game, the men’s team was up next. Some girls wanted pictures with MS & Raina, so I was clicking photos for my teammate. While standing there, they started saying, ‘You play really well, we watch your matches on TV, you’re very aggressive on the field.’ I was honestly surprised, I never thought they even had time to watch women’s games! I kept thinking, ‘Oh wow… they actually know who I am and what I do.’ A really special moment for me,” said Harmanpreet Kaur.

India skipper recalls unexpected praise that reflected growing recognition for women’s cricket

During the 2016-17 tour of Australia, the Indian men’s and women’s teams played several double headers. These kinds of schedules involve a scheduling format where the women’s T20 match will be held in the same stadium prior to the men’s match. At that point of time, women’s cricket in India didn’t have much popularity as there were only a couple of known players. Indian fans would have just heard about Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and Harmanpreet Kaur. The commercial value wasn’t as great when the WPL hadn’t started but Harmanpreet Kaur made a name for herself with her style. She was aggressive and she used to shoulder the responsibility of scoring runs for her side.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s fan moment came when MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina recognized her. It is quite humble of her to think that they wouldn’t know her. Even though women’s cricket was just growing at that time, the heroics of Harmanpreet Kaur used to make the headlines. The validation from the duo would have done her confidence a world of good. It also shows the kind of culture that exists in cricket that the sport is being enjoyed beyond any gender difference and quality recognises quality.

However over the decade, there has been a significant growth in women’s cricket especially after the introduction of WPL. The efforts of Jay Shah shouldn’t go unappreciated as he has played a major role in the development. India’s historic triumph in the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup was a landmark achievement for the skipper. Harmanpreet Kaur truly redefined women’s cricket and that really did give a major boost in terms of the team’s morale and viewership. There was a record-breaking viewership for the streaming of the finals as the fans had considered it no different to that of men’s cricket.

Harmanpreet Kaur shared a fun moment of how she realized that her matches were being seen by the Indian superstars MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina. There definitely has been a positive growth in the visibility of women’s cricket and the role of Harmanpreet Kaur cannot be ignored.