Last night at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, something Indian cricket fans had been waiting for years happened. Our team won the Women’s World Cup for the first time!
Harmanpreet Kaur lifted the trophy after defeating South Africa by 52 runs in the final.
This victory wasn’t easy, but rather a comeback after three defeats.
Didn’t lose heart even after three defeats
Initially, everything was going according to plan. The team won two matches, but then lost three in a row to South Africa, Australia, and England.
The match against England was heartbreaking; victory was within reach, but they lost everything in the final overs.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that the team cried a lot that night, but no one gave up.
Coach Amol Muzumdar said, “You can’t make the same mistakes again and again. You have to cross that line.”
This shocked everyone. Harmanpreet said, “The last month has been very interesting. It’s very rare that things don’t go according to your plan, and yet you stay so positive. We were really looking forward to this cup—that was something special in our group. Not a single player said, ‘What will we do now?’”
Everyone just kept thinking, “It’s okay.” After that defeat, the team decided not to repeat past mistakes.
We entered the field with a strong mind. That night changed everything. It impacted every player and brought positive energy.
Shafali and Deepti’s performance in the final
Now on to the knockouts. We defeated New Zealand in the virtual quarter-finals, a 53-run win via DLS. Then, in the semi-finals, we chased down Australia’s target of 338 with five wickets in hand.
Jemimah Rodrigues’ unbeaten 127 and Harmanpreet’s 89 were the highlights. We batted first against South Africa in the final.
Shafali Verma played a blistering inning of 87 runs, Deepti Sharma scored 58 runs and later took 5 wickets.
The team made 298/7. South Africa was all out for 246. Harmanpreet herself took the last catch, leaping high!
The entire stadium was packed. ICC Chairman Jay Shah presented the trophy.
Harmanpreet said, “Everybody just thought, ‘It’s okay.’ After losing the England match, we were really heartbroken. We were about to win that match, but we collapsed. We had seen this in the past.
That day, (Amol Muzumdar) Sir also said, ‘You can’t make the same mistakes again and again. You have to cross that line.’ After that day, a lot changed for us. Every time, we cannot go on repeating the same things. We had to come with a strong mind. That night changed a lot for us. It had an impact on everyone.”
The team had been playing well for years but couldn’t win a major tournament. Now it happened. The BCCI awarded them ₹51 crore in prize money, and the ICC awarded them ₹4.48 million. Smriti Mandhana was named Player of the Tournament.
This victory isn’t just a trophy, it’s a new hope for the girls.
Harmanpreet cried while lifting the trophy, saying, “We have been talking about this for many years – we’ve been playing good cricket, but we had to win one big tournament. (But) without that, we couldn’t talk about change. At the end of the day, fans and the audience want to see their favorite team win.
It’s not that we weren’t playing good cricket, but we were waiting badly for this moment, and today we got a chance to live it. I don’t know how to express it, but I’m so happy and so proud of this team.
I’m just trying to express what I’m feeling. I am numb. I am not able to understand. He (a journalist) asked two questions; I answered only one.”
The entire country is proud. PM Modi tweeted, and fans are congratulating him on social media.
