VIDEO | Sending Harleen to open was a wrong decision, admits UP Warriorz coach Nayar after defeat vs RCB

UP Warriorz Women’s head coach Abhishek Nayar on Monday admitted that sending Harleen Deol to open the batting in the WPL encounter against RCB turned out to be a “wrong decision,” one for which he takes full responsibility.

Nayar said the idea behind sending Harleen to open was to have a solid and technically strong batter at the top when the ball is moving, and to save some power-hitters for the later part of the innings.

“Part of the thought process was that we felt with the moving ball, Harleen could add a bit of value in the powerplay. She is obviously technically correct. It didn’t work out today,” Nayar said at the post-match press conference on Monday.

“I felt it turned out to be a wrong decision and I take complete responsibility for it,” Nayar admitted.

“I think the thought process behind that was having that solidity and then hopefully having that power later on as the pitch gets better because we anticipated a bit of swing initially. I thought the match-up with Kiran Navgire in the middle would work, but it didn’t, so we looked foolish,” he noted.

UP Warriorz had recovered admirably from a dramatic collapse to post 143/5, thanks to a superb rescue act by seasoned all-rounders Deandra Dottin and Deepti Sharma in the first innings.

Later, Grace Harris produced a breathtaking display of power-hitting en route to a 40-ball 85 to script Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s emphatic nine-wicket win over UP Warriorz.

Published on Jan 13, 2026