"My finger was swollen after taking Harry di's catch" - Harleen Deol on dismissing Jess Jonassen with off-spin in GG's WPL 2023 win against DC

Harleen Deol has disclosed that she resorted to bowling off-spin in the Gujarat Giants' (GG) Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 win against the Delhi Capitals (DC) due to a swollen finger after taking Harmanpreet Kaur's catch in their previous game.

The Gujarat Giants set the Delhi Capitals a 148-run target at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 16. Harleen first scored 31 runs and then picked up Jess Jonassen's crucial wicket to help her side register a 11-run win.

During an interaction on Sports18, Harleen Deol was asked how she felt after picking up a wicket in her very first over and why she bowled off-spin instead of her usual leg-spin, to which she responded:

"I felt very good. Who will not feel good after picking up a wicket? My finger was swollen after taking Harry di's (Harmanpreet Kaur) catch. I said - 'I will bowl anything but bowl for sure, so don't take tension'."

The Himachal Pradesh player was further asked about how she is seen flying and diving while taking catches all around the field, to which she replied:

"We practice a lot how to take such catches. In the last match, luckily the ball was coming to me all the time but today it didn't come to me at all."

Harleen is regarded as one of India's best fielders. Her outstanding catch at long-off to dismiss Amy Jones in a T20I against England became the talk of the cricketing world.

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"There was immense pressure on her" - Harleen Deol on her plans to dismiss Jess Jonassen

Harleen Deol had Jess Jonassen caught at long-off by Ashleigh Gardner. [P/C: WPL/Twitter]

Harleen Deol was also asked about her plans to dismiss Jess Jonassen at a crucial stage of the game, to which she responded:

"We had a simple plan that we will keep the ball on the stumps. So we kept on doing that. She had played a lot of dot balls, so there was immense pressure on her."

Harleen was further asked about the maturity she has shown in the ongoing WPL 2023 and whether batting at a fixed position had helped her cause, to which she replied:

"We were in the T20 World Cup recently and I didn't get to play. So the mindset was to lead myself and play here. When we played the Women's T20 Challenge earlier, my order used to be up and down. So there was a lot of flexibility in my mind. I prepared myself to bat at any number but it helps to bat at a fixed number."

Harleen Deol has amassed 186 runs at a decent strike rate of 124.83 in six games. She is joint-fourth alongside Alyssa Healy in the Orange Cap race, with Meg Lanning (239), Ellyse Perry (205) and Shafali Verma (187) ahead of her.