Harmanpreet Kaur opens up on Australia's Tahlia McGrath playing CWG final despite being COVID positive

Heartbroken after a gold medal slipped out of ir hands, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur harped on need to stop repeating same mistakes in 'title clashes', saying "mental block" has to be broken, going forward.

Indian team came to close winning coveted gold on women cricket's CWG debut but fell short by nine runs after being in a dominant position against mighty Australia. It was deja vu for Harmanpreet and Co. who h suffered a similar inexplicable batting collapse during T20 World Cup finals defeat against Australia in 2020 and 2017 ODI World Cup final in England.

"Every time in big finals, we make same mistakes again and again (with bat), that is something we have to improve," Harmanpreet said after match on Sunday.

"We don't do se mistakes in league phase or in bilateral. That is blocking our mind somewhere," skipper ded.

With 50 needed off last six overs with eight wickets in hand, India seemed to be on course to title triumph but lost last five wickets for 13 runs owing to some poor shot selections.

Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues strung a 96-run partnership but both ended up playing some poor shots to make ir way back to dug out.

"I am someone who is always looking for one more batter in side. Unfortunately, we're working on that. Once we get that, this thing [collapsing] will go away." "After losing two crucial wickets, way Jemi (Jemimah Rodrigues) and I batted was much needed at that time. You need to hold your nerves. We were nearly re." "Maybe if Pooja (Vastrakar) or I were around, we could've won game. But that is part of game; sometimes some things you can't control. It is great learning for us," she ded.

Although India ended on losing side in summit clash, Harmanpreet is "happy and satisfied" with her side's CWG campaign.

"I kw we were close to winning gold, but all around our performance was great. This is first time we got to play in this tournament and we're happy to have won a silver medal.

"A medal is something people back home will get inspired from and y could start playing cricket. As a team, we want to inspire young girls. Doing well on this platform will motivate a lot of people back home." All-rounder Tahlia McGrath was a part of Australian playing XI despite testing positive for COVID-19.

"y informed us before toss. That was something t in our control. CWG h to take a decision and we were okay with it since she wasn't very ill, so we decided to play. We h to show sportsman spirit.

"I'm happy we didn't say to Tahlia, it (missing final) would've even very hard-hitting for her." India put up a spirited fielding display that helped m restrict Australia 161 for 8.

"If you want to beat this Australian team, you have to field well. If you give m easy runs, y can easily take game away. We discussed it in team meeting and Rha (Yav) set example for us.

" effort we put up today is something we wanted to do. I kw last 2-3 overs [in chase] were t in our favour but throughout game, way we played was outstanding to watch."

"We've been working on our fielding for a long time. I'm happy with way we fielded today. That is something we wanted to do as a team," Harmanpreet said.