Alyssa Healy opens up on heated exchange with ‘passionate’ Harmanpreet Kaur in Mumbai

Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Australian captain Alyssa Healy were involved in a heated moment during Day 3 of the Only Test between the two teams, played at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai.

In the 80th over of Australia’s second innings, Healy stepped out of her crease and defended a ball back at Harmanpreet, who was bowling. The Punjab cricketer picked up the ball and tried to hit the stumps at the striker’s end. The ball was headed straight at the body of the Australian wicketkeeper-batter, and she used her bat to deflect it away past the first slip. A furious Harmanpreet appealed for obstructing the field but umpire Anil Kumar Chaudhary decided that Healy wasn’t in the wrong and asked her opposite number to continue with the game.

Speaking about the incident, Healy refused to read too much into what happened and said that it just showed how passionately the two teams were playing their cricket to win the match.

“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,” Healy said while speaking to the reporters.

I see more positives out of the one-off Test than any sort of negativity: Alyssa Healy

Healy said that the Test match loss doesn’t end their dominance in world cricket. In an unfamiliar format and alien conditions, the 33-year-old was happy with the positives that came out. She also noted that people, who are used to seeing Australia winning, tend to forget how the team has gone through a transition in the last 12-18 months.

“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,” Healy said.

India won the match by eight wickets, and will now look forward to the three ODIs and three T20Is that follow. The first ODI will take place on Thursday, December 28, at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai.