PM Narendra Modi felicitates India women's cricket team for World Cup triumph, hails 'remarkable resilience and comeback'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitated Harmanpreet Kaur and the rest of the Indian women's cricket team at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, three days after their historic triumph in the ICC Women’s World Cup in Navi Mumbai. Also present at the PM’s felicitation of the Women in Blue were BCCI president Mithun Manhas as well as head coach Amol Muzumdar.

PM Modi lauded Harmanpreet and her team for their “remarkable resilience and comeback”, with India going on to defeat Australia and South Africa in the semi-finals and final respectively after suffering three consecutive losses at one stage in their World Cup campaign.

After pulling off a record chase against Australia, who had entered as the defending champions, in the semis, the Women in Blue produced an all-round display to hand the Proteas a 52-run defeat in the final, winning their maiden ICC title in the process.

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PM Modi also hailed the women’s team for their mental strength, with Harmanpreet and her teammates overcoming incessant trolling on social media to deliver a performance for the ages when it mattered the most.

Harmanpreet, who had scored an attacking 89 in the semi-final victory over the Alyssa Healy-led Australian team, recalled meeting Modi after the 2017 edition of the Women’s World Cup, in which India had finished runners-up after a narrow loss against hosts England in the final.

Women in Blue gift special jersey to PM Modi

The 36-year-old expressed delight over the fact that she did not meet the Prime Minister empty-handed this time, and hoped the team would continue to achieve success and meet him more often in the future.

It wasn’t just the trophy that the Indian team showed up with at the PM’s 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence – they also gifted him a special Indian jersey with the name ‘Namo’ written on the back along with the number ‘1’.

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Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who had broken former captain Mithali Raj’s record for most runs by an Indian batter in a single edition of the World Cup, described PM Modi’s words as a huge source of inspiration.

All-rounder Deepti Sharma, who had starred in the final with a half-century and a five-wicket haul and was also the Player of the Tournament, revealed that she had been looking forward to meeting the Prime Minister since the 2017 edition, back when she made her World Cup debut.

Modi also enquired about her “Jai Shri Ram” bio on Instagram as well as a tattoo of Lord Hanuman, which she described as a source of strength.

The Prime Minister also had a light-hearted exchange with all-rounder Amanjot Kaur, whose juggling catch to dismiss well-set South African captain Laura Wolvaardt had virtually sealed India’s victory.

“While catching, you must have been seeing the ball, but after catching it, you must have been seeing the trophy,” Modi told Amanjot.