"That's what happens when Australia plays India"- Alyssa Healy on fiery face-off with Harmanpreet Kaur during one-off Test
Australia skipper Alyssa Healy feels it was completely fair for Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur to be fired up during the recently concluded Test. The latter shared a heated moment with the Australian during the one-off Test between the two sides at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Harmanpreet threw the ball towards Healy while bowling and the batter took evasive action, shielding with the bat. The ball took a ricochet and rocketed to the third-man fence for four overthrows. The Indian captain first appealed for obstructing the field and was fired up when she dismissed Healy on the very next ball.
Speaking to the reporters after the game, Alyssa Healy claimed that she took no offense to Harmanpreet Kaur's reactions as she felt it only showed how passionately the two teams wanted to play their cricket. She said:
"I don't necessarily think there is a rivalry. I think that we're just two cricketers going at it. That's basically the way that I'd sum it up. She's obviously a passionate cricketer, so am I. That's what happens when Australia plays India. It's a good, hard contest. Yesterday was just probably an example of that."
Alyssa Healy unaffected by Australia's loss
Alyssa Healy also claimed that Australia's dominance wasn't over after just one loss against India. She feels there has been a transition in the team and they are being judged too quickly because of the high benchmark that they have set for themselves in international cricket.
On this, she stated:
"It's not even a blip. It's a format where we're not overly familiar with, in conditions that we're not familiar with. I see more positives out of this and than any sort of negativity. I think there is always a lot of expectation and external noise about our team and how we're performing … they are so used to seeing us winning that I think at times they forget that we've actually seen quite a lot of change over the last 12 to 18 months that kind of goes unnoticed external to our group."
Alyssa Healy and Co. will be keen to bounce back in the three ODIs to be played at the same venue beginning on December 28.