Kaur was born on 8 March 1989 in Moga, Punjab, to Harmandar Singh Bhullar, a volleyball and basketball player and Satwinder Kaur.[11] Her parents are baptised Sikhs. Her younger sister Hemjeet, is post-graduate in English and works as an assistant professor at Guru Nanak College in Moga.[12] Her father, who now is a clerk at a judicial court, was once an aspiring cricketer. He was the first coach of Harman when she had begun playing the sport. She took to cricket after joining the Gian Jyoti School Academy, 30 kilometres (19 mi) away from her residence in Moga,[13] where she trained under Kamaldeesh Singh Sodhi.[14] Harman used to play with men in the formative days of her career.[15] She moved to Mumbai in 2014 where she began working for the Indian Railways.[16][13] Harmanpreet was inspired by Virender Sehwag.
Her ability to hit the ball a long way was seen when she played quick-fire innings of 33 against England women's in a T20I game played in Mumbai in 2010.[21]
In January 2016, she helped India to win series in Australia as well as scored a 31-ball 46 runs in India's highest ever chase in T20 internationals. She continued her form in the 2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 where she scored 89 runs and took seven wickets in four matches.[26][27]
In June 2016, she became the first Indian cricketer to be signed by an overseas Twenty20 franchise. Sydney Thunder, the Women's Big Bash League champions, signed her for the 2016–17 season.[28][29][30][31] On 20 July 2017 she scored 171*(115) against Australia in the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup semi-final in Derby.[32][33] Kaur's 171* is currently the second-highest score by an Indian batter in women's one-day internationals, behind Deepti Sharma's 188 runs. Kaur also holds the record for the highest individual score for India in Women's cricket World Cup history.[34][35] Kaur now holds the record for registering the highest ever individual score in a knockout stage of a Women's World Cup match (171*) surpassing the previous record of 107* by Karen Rolton.[36][37] Kaur was part of the Indian team to reach the final of the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup where the team lost to England by nine runs.[38][39][40] In July 2017, Harman became second India batter to feature in the top-10 of ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings after Mithali Raj.[41]
Kaur receiving Arjuna Award in 2020
In December 2017, she was named as one of the players in the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year.[42][43]
In October 2018, she was named as the captain of India's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.[44][45] Ahead of the tournament, she was named as one of the players to watch.[46] In the opening match of the tournament, against New Zealand, she became the first woman for India to score a century in WT20Is, when she made 103 runs from 51 balls.[47] She was the leading run-scorer for India in the tournament, with 183 runs in five matches.[48]
In February 2023, in the inaugural WPL auction, she was bought by Mumbai Indians for ₹1.80 crores. The Mumbai Indians, captained by her, went on to win the inaugural WPL.[60][61]
In July 2023, Kaur was fined 75% of her match fee, received four demerit points, and was suspended for two matches by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the code of conduct for her outbursts during the final ODI of the Bangladesh series. She pleaded guilty to two separate charges pressed by Akhtar Ahmed, the match referee.[62] Kaur received three demerit points and fined 50% of her match fee relating to "showing dissent at an umpire's decision". Thus, she became the first women's player to be given a Level 2 sanction since the ICC began listing code of conduct breaches publicly in 2016. She was also awarded one demerit point for a separate Level 1 penalty along with a fine of 25% of her match fee for "public criticism" of match officials.[63] Kaur found herself in the controversy after hitting the stumps with her bat when she was declared out. In the post-match presentation, she publicly criticised the umpires and disrespected the opposing team during the photo session, leading the Bangladeshi players to walkout.[64]
^"Harmanpreet on Dhaka umpiring outburst: 'I don't regret anything'". ESPNcricinfo. 20 August 2023. During the Dhaka ODI, Harmanpreet made her displeasure with the umpiring clear: she reacted to her dismissal by smashing the stumps with her bat, and went on to call the umpiring "pathetic" at the post-match presentation. When players from the two teams posed for end-of-series photographs, Harmanpreet is understood to have shouted out, "bring the umpires too", suggesting they had been part of the Bangladesh team.
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