When Harmanpreet Kaur attacks her opposition bowlers like Thor, they are always left wondering what has happened. The name stuck because it encapsulated both the Marvel superhero and the power in her batting, and it was appropriate in Raipur as Harmanpreet Kaur played a stunning innings against Zimbabwe in the third T20I. With the captaincy burden off her shoulders, the India batter hammered out an unbeaten 91 from 41 deliveries, a scintillating knock.

It was a timely reminder of her destructive prowess and the sort of innings that she can produce for India when she is free-spirited and able to attack. After scoring 131 runs in her previous 10 T20I matches at a strike rate of 99.24, the veteran batter had more than enough to prove. The Zimbabwe bowlers faced the wrath of the Indian captain as she drove India to a mountainous total.

Harmanpreet hit 10 fours and 5 sixes at a phenomenal strike rate of 221.95 as the batters put together a mammoth score of 216/7. With Smriti Mandhana taking over as the captain, the former skipper seemed all set to trust in her instincts and attack the Zimbabwe bowlers with the same swashbuckling approach that has been the hallmark of her best innings.

Prior to the match, Harmanpreet had been given some valuable advice from former India women's head coach WV Raman. The batter seemed to take the words to heart as she acknowledged his praise after her explosive knock.

“I should give credit to you (WV Raman, former India women's coach) too (for telling me to do what I wanted to do), and thanks for those words (before the game),” Harmanpreet said during the innings break.

Harmanpreet Kaur shifts gears after a cautious start

Harmanpreet's innings didn't get off the ground straight away. It took some time for the India skipper to settle down at the crease, scoring only 10 runs off her first 11 deliveries. But as soon as she got into her rhythm, Zimbabwe's bowlers were in trouble.

She raced to a half-century in only 25 balls, and her attacking play left the Zimbabwean bowlers grasping at straws. The skipper was in devastating form in the 14th over when she cleaned up Kudzai Chigora's bowling by scoring 20 runs off the over. She began with a lofted boundary over mid-off, followed by two huge sixes, the first a pull shot over long-on and the second a drive past mid-wicket.

After that, another boundary over mid-wicket as she read the length early and sent the bowler guessing. The over was a turning point in the innings as Harmanpreet went from a cautious opener to a boundary-hitting machine. She was so clinical in her accumulation of runs, picking the length early and punishing any loose ball, that the Zimbabweans had no answer to her assault.

Having got into her destructive phase of the innings, there was no let up as Harmanpreet continued to drive the attack. She kept moving across the park to free her arms and punish any ball that strayed into her hitting range. Her innings had gone from a careful start to a rampant attacking cover drive as she made life extremely difficult for the Zimbabwean bowlers.

The 16th over saw the India skipper unleash her power yet again as she came out to face Beloved Biza. She raced down the track and sent the ball sailing over long-on for a six that went 82 meters into the air. After two dot balls, she launched another huge six over cow corner to add to her tally of sixes in the innings.

Harmanpreet's assault on the Zimbabwean bowling attack continued as she scored two sixes in the over. Her brute strength combined with clever footwork saw her continue to dominate the bowling attack. Shafali Verma had set the platform for the explosive India innings with her 69 off 37 balls, which included six fours and five sixes. But towards the end of her innings, Harmanpreet accelerated rapidly and kept the strike rotating between the batters, helping the home side finish with a competitive total of 216/7.

Apart from the runs and sixes, Harmanpreet's innings was also special as she batted with complete freedom, showing glimpses of her attacking instincts, which have made her one of the most feared batters in the shortest format.

Harmanpreet's unbeaten 91 was the second-highest individual score of her T20I career, behind her 103 against New Zealand in 2018. Her ton in the historic chase against New Zealand was also special as it made her the first Indian female batter to register a century in the format.

Almost eight years later, Harmanpreet was back scoring centuries in T20I cricket. Her innings in Raipur could be another special moment in her illustrious career as the veteran has been given the chance to rediscover her attacking game without the pressure of the captaincy.

With the way she has batted, if Harmanpreet can find her old form, India's opponents in the shortest format will have plenty to fear. Thor's thunder was back and Zimbabwe were the ones who felt the pain.