Raipur

Former India captain Harmanpreet Kaur fought back tears after ending a prolonged lean patch with a blistering unbeaten 91 off 41 balls against Zimbabwe in the third and final T20I here.

Harmanpreet, who stepped down as India captain across formats earlier this month, had not scored a half-century in her last 10 matches.

She did not have much success with the bat in the Women's T20 Asia Cup as well as the Asian Games, despite India winning both titles comfortably.

"It feels great. Just wanted to enjoy myself, and great that I got some time in the middle and really enjoyed myself on the field," Harmanpreet told the host broadcaster during the innings break.

The 37-year-old was not able to control her tears in a post-innings chat with the on-air commentators. WV Raman, who was also the head coach of the Indian women's team, was speaking with Harmanpreet when the latter broke down.

"I just wanted to bat as long as possible, and glad that I was able to do that. I think I should give credit to you also (to WV Raman).

"The moment we came, you stepped in and you said, 'Now you do what you want to do,' and that's what I want to do, and really want to enjoy myself. Thanks for those words."

Harmanpreet said there is no pressure on her anymore, having resigned as captain.

"I don't think there is any pressure anymore. Now it's all about going out there and enjoying myself on the field, and that's exactly what I want to do," she said.

The right-handed batter, who smashed 10 fours and five sixes, including some meaty blows down the ground, also credited her work in the nets.

"After the Asian Games, I got some time in the nets. I really want to thank Himanshu bhaiya (her batting coach), who's been working really hard on me, and today's batting was all him."

After the match, Harmanpreet reflected more on her innings.

"I think I hit the (second) ball for four, and that was when I realised it was a good pitch where the ball was coming on nicely to the bat. I gained a lot of confidence from that shot, so I just thought, 'Let me keep going and see how it goes'," she said.

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"Batting is key for me, and I just want to keep working on it and repeating those processes in the nets. I really want to give credit to my batting coach (Himanshu Chawla), Manju bhaiya (Munish Bali), who have been working very hard with me and understand the kind of batting I can do."