Harleen Deol

Born in Punjab (India), Harleen Deol is an aggressive batter who represents Himachal Pradesh in domestic cricket. The shift happened due to her father's job transfer and the facilities at the women's academy which was another factor. She is particularly strong against spin bowlers due to her nimble footwork. She can both dish out the power game and deft touch against the slower bowlers. Harleen herself is a tweaker, a wrist spinner and while she isn't a fully developed product yet, she definitely has the skill to be a genuine all-rounder. After showing enough promise in the domestic circuit, Harleen made her international debut in 2019 across both the white-ball formats.

During her childhood, Harleen used to play a lot of gully cricket with boys, given that the female section were still only coming to terms with the sport in India. It did raise eyebrows among her neighbours but Harleen's parents, her mom in particular, was strong in support. Initially an off-spinner, she then took to leg spin purely due to circumstances, as the Punjab sub-junior side that she got selected in, didn't have a leggie. Like most wrist spinners, Harleen is a huge fan of Shane Warne. She impressed in the exhibition match that was played between women's cricketers across the globe, held during IPL 2019. A jovial persona off the field, Harleen loves to sing, especially rap.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan