Team India suffered a surprising nine-run defeat to Australia in their final Group A match of the Women's T20 World Cup held in Sharjah on Sunday, significantly harming their chances of advancing to the semi-finals. The outcome now hinges on the result of the match between Pakistan and New Zealand, which will ultimately determine the fate of captain Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

In this crucial match, India restricted the defending champions to 151/8 after opting to bowl first. However, India's response fell short, as they managed only 142/9. Despite being the top scorer for her team with 54 runs, Harmanpreet has come under intense scrutiny for her decisions during the last over of the match.

With 14 runs required off the final over, and Harmanpreet at the crease, expectations were high for her to lead the team to victory. However, her choice to take a single on the first delivery, allowing Pooja Vastrakar to take strike, raised eyebrows among fans and analysts alike. Vastrakar was subsequently clean bowled by pacer Annabel Sutherland, followed by the run-out of Arundhati Reddy on the third delivery.

Harmanpreet returned to strike but opted for another single, bringing Shreyanka Patil to the crease. With 12 runs needed off the last two balls, Patil was run out, and then Radha Yadav was dismissed LBW on the very next delivery. The game concluded with Renuka Singh running for a single, sealing a narrow victory for Australia.

This decision-making process by Harmanpreet has left many fans baffled, questioning her approach in such a high-pressure situation when the team needed a decisive performance to clinch the match.