Harmanpreet hails Shafali's golden touch after leading India to maiden women's world title: ‘Knew today's her day'

Harmanpreet Kaur described Shafali Verma’s two-wicket burst early in her spell as “the turning point” while hailing for her team for remaining positive and believing in themselves after India defeated South Africa to win the 2025 ICC Women's World Cup.

Harmanpreet added that while the Women in Blue had finally fulfilled their dream of winning a global event, she hoped that it would eventually become a habit, and their their triumph over the Proteas marks the beginning of a new journey.

After losing three World Cup finals – twice (2005 and 2017) in the ODI format and once (2020) in T20 – the Women in Blue finally conquered the final hurdle on Sunday with a 52-run victory over South Africa at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium.

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And they did went the distance despite suffering three defeats on the trot during the group stage, including against Australia and South Africa – the teams they defeated in the semi-final and final respectively.

The moment all of India has been waiting for as ICC Chairman @JayShah hands India captain Harmanpreet Kaur the trophy 🏆#CWC25 pic.twitter.com/RDcQ3pVtl7

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) November 2, 2025

“I am so grateful for this crowd, they have been really amazing. Thank you for being with us in all our ups and downs. Last game also, we spoke that self-belief was there, even though we lost three back-to-back games. we knew we had something special to turn things around. They stayed positive, we knew what we had to do, everyone was so involved, they were there day and night and this team deserves to be there,” Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

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Opener Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma played starring roles in the historic victory with their all-round contributions, and were later adjudged the ‘Player of the Final’ and the ‘Player of the Tournament’ respectively.

Shafali (87) and Deepti (58) slammed fifties and were ably supported by Smriti Mandhana (45) and Richa Ghosh (34) as India posted a challenging 298/7 on the board after being put in to bat by South African captain Laura Wolvaardt.

Also Read | Shafali plays the best knock of her career in World Cup final: 'History will remember this GOATed inning'

Deepti later played a key role with the ball with her haul of 5/39 that helped India bowl South Africa out for 246 in reply, with the spin-bowling all-rounder finishing as the leading wicket-taker (22) in the tournament in addition to scoring three half-centuries. Among her wickets on Sunday was Wolvaardt, who brought up a second consecutive century that ultimately went in vain.

What a moment! 😍🤩👌🏻#HarmanpreetKaur introduced #ShafaliVerma into bowling & she gets the wicket of Luus! 🫡👏🏻#CWC25 Final 👉 #INDvSA, LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/gGh9yFhTix pic.twitter.com/8rsuBlFd78

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) November 2, 2025

Harman, however, made special mention of Shafali getting two wickets in as many overs right after being introduced in the 21st over as one of the standout moments from the game.

“When Laura and Sune were batting, they were looking really good, and I just saw Shafali standing there. And the way she was batting today, I knew today’s her day. She was doing something special today, and I just thought I have to go with my gut feeling. If my heart is saying I should give at least one over to her, I’m going to give her,” she continued.

“And then I just asked her, ‘can you bowl one over?’ And she was so ready, and she’s always wanted to bowl for the team. I think that was a turning point for us,” she added.

‘This is not the end, just the beginning’

Shortly before receiving the glittering trophy from ICC chairman Jay Shah, Harmanpreet sign off by stating that the era-defining triumph in Navi Mumbai was “just the beginning”.

“Every time, after every World Cup, we were always discussing to cross that line. In the last two years, Amol sir was with the team and he was always telling us to come up with something special, and to keep preparing for the big occasion. We should give credit to the support staff and the BCCI. We did not make too many changes (to our squad), and they really invested in us, and because of everyone, we are standing here.

“This is the start. We wanted to break this barrier. And our next plan is to make this a habit. We were waiting for it. now this moment has come. So many big occasions are coming, and we want to keep improving. This is not the end, just the beginning.”