Destiny’s child

“Bus karo yaar, jaane bhi do mujhe (Enough everyone, let me go now)!” India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was in a hurry to get back to the dressing room and celebrate the historic ICC World Cup title win with her teammates late on Sunday as the sky above DY Patil Stadium was lit up with fireworks.

However, reporters being reporters, they kept

on bombarding India’s only Women’s World Cup winning skipper with a volley of questions.

“I just want to take a moment to thank everyone, especially you guys. It’s been a long time, you are all here with us, we were busy celebrating... did you want a picture as well?” she said, before taking a moment to leave everyone in the room with a lifelong memory.

With emotions running high, Harmanpreet could not help but reminisce about her journey. “I remember my school principal asking me to play cricket, and within a year I made it to the national side. I think whatever happened today, it was all destiny. There was no plan to come this far, just a process,” said the skipper.

When asked what she was murmuring during South Africa’s innings, she said: “I won’t tell you! It’s a secret.”

“We didn’t think about what we posted (the 298-run total), we just wanted to bowl 10 good balls for taking 10 wickets. Had we been keeping the total in mind, we could have ended up being under pressure. There were moments where they were looking good, but we gave extra effort on the field, and our bowlers did their best,” she added.

While explaining her decision to give Shafali Verma the ball, the skipper said: “She was very much among the bowling options, and I didn’t want to go back to the hotel room regretting not using her. It was a random thought, and it clicked for us. Pratika (Rawal) used to bowl three to four overs, and when I asked her if she can do the same... she replied, ‘I will bowl all 10’, which gave me confidence in her.”

2-year process

Harmanpreet said the process to winning the World Cup title was almost two years long. “This team really worked hard for two years. We have played all formats, but our target was the ODI World Cup. Every member backed each other like family. Even in defeats, no one said ‘what’s next’, instead everyone went for ‘we will achieve success in the next’,” she said.

“And for this particular tournament, the night after we lost the England match changed it all. We thought we would have to come out with a stronger mindset and everyone came together even more. We just can’t repeat the same things again and again,” she added.

While she talked about destiny, Harmanpreet revealed a particular news boosted the Indian team’s confidence of winning the title even before the start of the tournament.

“After we got to know about the change of venue from Bengaluru to Navi Mumbai, every member of the team was on cloud nine. We have been marvellous at this ground, and the crowd really supports us,” she said.

The Indian team won three of their four matches here, with one being a washout. During the victory lap, Harmanpreet handed over the trophy to former cricketers Jhulan Goswami, Mithali Raj and Anjum Chopra, who have seen her rise. “Jhulan di was always there for me, when I entered the team... she was very supportive,” she said.