It was an extremely mature knock - Klinger on Deol's 70*

Having made her international debut way back in 2019 as a teenager, it's been a bumpy ride for Harleen Deol in white-ball formats. Rated highly for her all-round skills with her batting clearly being the stronger suite, Harleen took time to crack her game. It also meant being in and out of the national side but the 2024-25 season has been a breakout phase for all-rounder wherein she also notched up her maiden international ton.

That confidence has reflected into her T20 game and it was in full flow during her match-winning innings of 70* against Delhi Capitals in Lucknow on Friday (March 7). Chasing a tricky target of 178 against DC's potent bowling attack, Deol held one end up as Gujarat Giants got home with three balls to spare.

Head coach Michael Klinger lauded her efforts and was also all praise for Deol's adaptability as a batter. "It was an extremely mature knock, that one," said Klinger at the post-match pres conference.

"Batting with few of our players and building partnerships, first with Beth (Mooney), then Ash (Gardner), Dottin and also Kashvee at the end. So her (Harleen) efforts today was fantastic but to be fair, she has been brilliant the whole tournament. We have asked her to play a couple of different roles. She has played through the middle, the last couple of games she has played at three. So, she has been flexible and ready to do the team thing for us. I couldn't be prouder of how she is doing."

While Deol's breakthrough season with the national team has come as a top-order player, she started the 2025 WPL season as a finisher in the initial games. However, with results not going their way, Gujarat Giants were forced to rejig their batting order and it meant a slot back into the top order for Deol who took the opportunity with both hands. GG are currently on a three-match winning streak after yesterday's win and Deol has played a crucial role in two of them.

"I think she was in a really good mind space. To be honest, I think she was disappointed when she wasn't batting top three at the start of the tournament when she was batting five or six. To her credit, she embraced it 100 percent and what's that given her is the ability to play different roles.

"If you are an Indian coach or selector, you now know that Harleen can do a role through the middle and up top as well. So that makes her an attractive player to have in the T20 squad because you know she can do different roles. I'm really happy for her because she has embraced both roles and done well in both."

Apart from Deol's resurgence, another key factor for Gujarat's improved show this season is the balance of their side. In previous years, they had an exceeding overdependence on overseas stars and batting in general, only for the bowling to falter. That has changed this season with the domestic Indian bowlers stepping up big time. It has allowed the likes of Ash Gardner and Deandra Dottin to express themselves with a lot more freedom.

"If you look at it from a strategy side of things, what we have got now is eight extra quality overs from Kashvee and Priya. They didn't play last year. Kashvee was obviously injured, Priya was in our squad but wasn't getting selected last year. She has been great, she has improved in all areas, her bowling, her fielding. So just getting those eight overs has been a huge bonus for us.

Klinger also felt that the current GG squad had stronger temperament when compared to the ones in previous seasons. Explaining the same, the Australian had a strong reasoning for this significant improvement.

"What I have been proud of over the last 12 months for our side is that we had six of our players represent India A when they played Australia A and we had five representing India for the first time. I think that experience and exposure to high level cricket has held them in good stead leading to this tournament because you are coming up against high class Indian players and international players.

"To have that exposure from last WPL to this WPL has given them huge confidence to take it up against anyone, whoever it is. So they are no longer playing the name of the player coming against them, they are just playing the ball and reacting."