Eyes Shut, Mind Clear: Harmanpreet Kaur's Unique Rain Ritual Before India vs NZ

The Quint followed the Indian team's practice session before their match against New Zealand. Here's what we found.

ICC Women's World Cup 2025: Harmanpreet Kaur had a unique ritual before India vs New Zealand.

(Photo: The Quint)

Harmanpreet Kaur has long been the embodiment of stoicism before stepping out to bat. It is a ritual that has often served her well. On 19 October, when India were wobbling at 42 for 2 in their chase of 289 against England at the 2025 ICC Women's World Cup, she sat motionless. Her eyes were shut, her face was devoid of any expression.

Was she whispering a prayer? Summoning victory? Or merely stilling her nerves?

We do not know for certain, but whatever it was, it helped her score a run-a-ball 70. That, the eventual result did not go in India’s favour, takes nothing away from the knock the Indian captain played.

Rituals of manifestation are not new to cricket, especially when a daunting chase looms. But what unfolded at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium two days later was unlike anything seen before. Barely had India completed their warm-ups ahead of their match against New Zealand when torrential rain descended.

As the team rushed indoors, Kaur returned alone to the dugout, sitting silently amid the downpour. Performance coach AI Harrsha offered words, but she stayed unmoved. Again — eyes were shut, face was devoid of any expression. She was lost in stillness for approximately 20 minutes, before walking inside. Make no mistake, it was pelting down in Navi Mumbai for the entire duration Kaur was lost in her trance.

India’s World Cup campaign has been a turbulent one. Two early wins had promised much, but three successive defeats — to South Africa, Australia, and England — have left them vulnerable. In each of those matches, India once held the upper hand, only to squander it later.

Harmanpreet Kaur's unique manifestation routine in the rain.

(Photo: The Quint)

Questions have been raised on the non-performers, albeit Kaur is not on that specific list after her knock against England. That said, her captaincy has been under scrutiny, with India finding themselves in a precarious position while three teams have already booked their semi-final slot.

Coach Backs His Captain

When head coach Amol Muzumdar was asked about Kaur’s captaincy at the pre-match press conference, he expressed his trust in the ship’s anchor.

Harmanpreet has been leading fantastically. If you can see the record that she's had in the bilateral before, this World Cup has been fantastic in the last two years or so. Yeah, she got into her groove last game, could have converted that. But again, we come back to the same thing that if at all that could have been converted into 100, it could have been ideal. But knowing Harman, she's put in the hard yards and hopefully it all clicks in the next couple of games.

Hope, at this stage, is a necessary companion, and numbers do offer optimism. Although her average in ODIs against New Zealand (34.42) is a tad lower than her career average, she has scored three half-centuries in last four ODIs against the White Ferns. Amid Jemimah Rodrigues’ struggles and over-reliance on Smriti Mandhana, Kaur’s contribution will be crucial for the Indian team.

Indian players train ahead of New Zealand clash.

Indian players train ahead of New Zealand clash.

Indian players train ahead of New Zealand clash.

Indian players train ahead of New Zealand clash.

Indian players train ahead of New Zealand clash.

Contrasting Pictures at the New Zealand Camp

Across the aisle, New Zealand exude a contrasting energy. Despite their precarious position, the camp remains light-hearted — Bluetooth speaker blaring, the LED lights attached to it flashing wherever they go.

How can they be so chill? Maddy Green shared the secret with The Quint: “We don’t have anything to lose here. It’s India who are the favourites.”

Sophie Devine, addressing a question from The Quint at the pre-match press conference, in a candid move, called on for the media pressure on the Indian team to continue.

I think the Indians probably have enough pressure on them coming from the rest of your country to try and perform and get through to a semi-final, which I know is the expectation for them. So again, we'll let the Indian public and the media and all that give the Indian team enough pressure and we'll just keep going about our thing.

Sophie Devine

Amelia Kerr — New Zealand's Trump Card

Pressure aside, New Zealand have another trick up their sleeve — Amelia Kerr. In an exclusive conversation with The Quint on the eve of the fixture, Maddy Green alluded to utilising Kerr’s knowledge of the DY Patil Stadium and Harmanpreet Kaur — having known both through her Mumbai Indians tenure — to defeat India.

Melie (Amelia Kerr) is a very important player for us against any opposition — with both bat and ball. When it comes to playing against India, she knows a lot of their players quite well, so we will definitely be tapping into her knowledge of them. She’s also a big-game player; we saw that during last year’s T20 World Cup. I’m really looking forward to seeing what she can do out there with both bat and ball.

Maddy Green

Sophie Devine told The Quint at the press conference:

Everyone expects Melie to perform and to give to this group. And I think the really exciting thing about her is she's got such a level head about her. Like you say, she's played a lot with Harman, she's obviously played with the Mumbai Indians here and hopefully she's got a few fans in the crowd as well that'll be cheering for New Zealand and her. But I think for us it is really important that we share that information. And yeah, I guess how we use that is going to be important as well. But like I said, we don't exactly know what the pitch is going to play like. We can look at all the stats, we can look at all the information, but at the end of the day, it's what's going to be played out in front of us that's going to be incredibly important. So, for us, again, I'm really excited to see what Melie can do. But not just merely the whole group. I think whoever's selected tomorrow to go out there and to play for New Zealand to wear the shirt is a really exciting opportunity. And again, you say Melie knows some of those Indian players really well. They also know Melie well. And I think that's the great thing about franchise cricket is it's not all one way, it's certainly both ways. 

Sophie Devine

Numbers confirm Kerr’s looming threat. Against India, she averages a staggering 78.16 in ODIs, with one century and four fifties from just ten innings — five of those in her last six games. Add 17 wickets at an average of 30.47, and her impact reads like a dossier on dominance. Yet, just as India rely on Kaur and Mandhana, New Zealand lean heavily on Kerr.

For the White Ferns to stay alive in this competition, after having matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan washed out due to rain, the fixture against India will be a must-win, and even that might not prove to be enough if they lose their last fixture against England.

As for the Indian team, a victory here will see them through, else the last fixture against Bangladesh on 26 October could prove to be a do-or-die affair. The match will begin at 3pm on Thursday.