Harmanpreet Kaur led India to a comfortable five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 at Old Trafford, Manchester on Thursday, 26 June, but the captain was candid about a persistent problem: dropped catches. India chased down 137 in 16.5 overs, keeping their semifinal hopes firmly alive — yet the fielding lapses that have shadowed this campaign were on display once again.

How India Won

Shafali Verma was the standout with an explosive 53 off 34 balls, anchoring the chase after India's bowlers had restricted Bangladesh to 136/8. The margin of victory — with overs to spare — also boosted India's net run rate, which Harmanpreet acknowledged was a deliberate target heading into the fixture.

'I think it's a good win. We were looking for this, and it's good that we thought we'd finish a bit early… I think two, three overs were there when we finished the game. So I think that's a plus point for us,' Harmanpreet said after the match.

Fielding Lapses Remain a Concern

Despite the win, India dropped several catches during Bangladesh's innings, allowing partnerships to extend and gifting valuable runs. What made the lapses more glaring, according to Harmanpreet, was that some of the culprits are regarded as the squad's best fielders.

'Fielding is something on which we have been working very hard, but unfortunately, today again, we were not very great with the catches,' she admitted. 'Hopefully the next game is very important, and I think that is the day to show our best cricket.'

The captain backed her teammates rather than singling anyone out. 'They are our best fielders, but sometimes situations like that arise. You can't really control them, but we only talked about it — keep working hard, keep spending a lot of time on the field, keep catching those balls, so that when we go into the field, we are in a good position,' she said.

Flexible Team Selection Strategy

Harmanpreet also shed light on India's approach to picking their playing XI, revealing the management has opted for opposition-specific combinations rather than a fixed line-up throughout the tournament.

'Every game is a different opposition and they have different positives and negatives, and accordingly, we have set our playing XI. We were very open about our playing XI, and we just thought about what the best combination is,' she explained.

Eyes on Australia Blockbuster

India's attention now shifts to a high-stakes encounter against Australia on Sunday, a match that could prove decisive in the semifinal race. Harmanpreet described Australia as 'one of our favourite opposition' and pointed to a recent victory against them in Navi Mumbai as a confidence-builder.

'The last win against them in Navi Mumbai has given us a lot of confidence and broken a lot of barriers, and hopefully we'll play our best cricket on that day,' she said. With fielding drills likely to dominate India's preparation in the coming days, how the squad responds under pressure against the tournament heavyweights will be the real test of this team's semifinal credentials.