World Champions India Women's Team to Meet PM Modi After Historic Victory

On Sunday at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium, India trounced South Africa with a 52-run win to lift the first Women's World Cup trophy in front of a jam-packed crowd. With the tag of World Champions, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will arrive in New Delhi in the evening and will meet PM Modi on Wednesday.

During the pulsating final on Sunday, India posted a daunting total of 298/7 on the board, courtesy of Shafali Verma's blistering 87(78) and Deepti Sharma's fiery run-a-ball 58. In reply, skipper Laura Wolvaardt singlehandedly led the fight with a rollicking 101(98) while the rest of her compatriots crumbled against India's spin attack. Player of the Tournament, Deepti Sharma, delivered the final blow, and India experienced a wave of euphoria.

India took a victory lap inside the stadium to prolong the moment of jubilation. Former cricketers Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj joined in the victory celebrations and lifted the coveted title with teary eyes. Former India men's captain Rohit Sharma, who was present at the stadium with his family, was visibly overwhelmed with emotions.

After the nerve-wracking final, Harmanpreet was effusive about past stalwarts Jhulan Goswami and Anjum Chopra. She credited the duo for providing her support during her illustrious 16-year career.

"Jhulan Di was my biggest support. When I joined the team, she was leading it. She always supported me in my early days when I was very raw and didn't know much about cricket. I used to play with boys, and the school principal picked me up, and within a year, I started representing the country. In the initial days, Anjum (Chopra) provided me with a lot of support. I always remember how she used to take me along with her team," Harmanpreet said after the match.

"I learnt a lot from her and passed it on to my team. Both of them have been a great support for me. I am very grateful that I got to share a special moment with them. It was a very emotional moment. I think we all were waiting for this. Finally, we were able to touch this trophy," Harmanpreet added.

Former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has rated India women's team's World Cup title triumph as a "bigger achievement" than any World Cup win that the nation has ever won because of the impact it can create in the landscape of the country's women's cricket.

"I would put this and rate this as an even bigger and colossal achievement than any World Cup we have done and any other World Cup that has been won because this has the ability to bring the girls out there to practice the game of cricket and take up the sport seriously as a career option and it is going to change the mindset and conditioning of everybody associated with Indian women and Indian women's cricket," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

- ANI