India's maiden World Cup win is likely to see them become a juggernaut in women's cricket, says former England spinner Alex Hartle...
India's maiden World Cup win is likely to see them become a juggernaut in women's cricket, says former England spinner Alex Hartley.
Harmanpreet Kaur's side beat South Africa by 52 runs in a momentous occasion at the DY Patil Stadium at Navi Mumbai, which is expected to be a watershed moment in the growth of the game in India.
The game did not finish until after midnight local time but the capacity 45,000 crowd stayed until the very end, cheering every run and erupting into ecstasy once player of the tournament Deepti Sharma claimed the winning wicket.
"India could become a juggernaut of women's cricket, it's scary where they could get to," Hartley told BBC Test Match Special.
"The money that's going to be pumped into the game, the domestic system, more and more people are going to want to be like Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma.
"There'll be more and more young girls and boys picking up bats to play cricket because of what India have just achieved."
It was heart-wrenching for South Africa to lose their third global final in a row, but the city became a sea of blue as men, boys, women and girls in shirts donning the names of Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana poured out of the stadium in their droves.
"There was so much pressure on India to win this World Cup - they are a team that billions of people watch - and they create so much money," Hartley, who won the World Cup with England in 2017, added.
"It was always about when India would win the World Cup, and when they got past Australia in the semi-finals, it was written in the stars."
'We are going to dominate'
Hartley's prediction and confidence in India's boom was echoed by India's players themselves, who sensed the magnitude of their win and what could be in store.
"This means a lot, we have created history," said 25-year-old all-rounder Amanjot Kaur.
"But this is just the start. We are going to dominate all over the world in every format and I'm glad we could do it when it mattered most."
While Amanjot is among a crop of exciting, emerging talents, for Harmanpreet, Deepti and Smriti Mandhana - the three players who featured in India's last 50-over World Cup final, the agonising nine-run defeat by England at Lord's in 2017 - this was a crowning moment.
Mandhana has been the tournament's poster girl, her face plastered across billboards and television adverts everywhere, while Deepti has been their most consistent performer with Harmanpreet as their superstar leader.
It is her fifth and final World Cup and for a player usually so intense on the field, she allowed the emotion to take over with tears, smiles and dance moves as she was surrounded by her team-mates for the long-awaited trophy lift.
"Every time, after every World Cup that we came to as a team, we were discussing what we needed to do," Harmanpreet, 36, said.
"The expectations of us were that they needed something special, and the BCCI really invested in us, and that's why we are standing here.
"This is the start, and we wanted to break this barrier, and the next plan is to make this our habit. We have so many big occasions coming up, and this is not the end; this is just the beginning."
