After the Women in Blue won their first ICC trophy at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, November 2, Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was moved as she thought back on her team’s journey and long-fought victory at the Women’s World Cup 2025.
Before being removed, Smriti Mandhana had a 104-run opening partnership and scored 45 runs, both of which were vital to India’s triumph. Shafali Verma (87) and Deepti Sharma were able to lead the innings thanks to her foundation, giving South Africa a difficult target of 299 runs.
India then became the fourth side to win the Women’s ODI World Cup after bowling South Africa out for 246 thanks to a spectacular five-wicket haul (5/39) by Deepti. This was the country’s first-ever Women’s World Cup victory. After suffering multiple heartbreaks in previous seasons, Smriti Mandhana said it was amazing to finally feel the joy of triumph.
“There have been numerous heartbreaks for all of us during every World Cup that we have participated in. But we always felt that we had a bigger duty—not just to win, but to keep encouraging women’s cricket. And to be honest, just take a look at the support we’ve received in the past 1.5 months. It has been amazing. I would trade in those forty-five sleepless nights for the chance to win the World Cup today. It was undoubtedly difficult for us all to endure the most recent World Cup.
But after the win, we had a clear goal: to become stronger, fitter, and better in every way,” Smriti Mandhana told the BBC.
“And to be completely honest, the thing that makes this squad unique—and nobody really discusses it—is how unified we were. During both good and bad times, everyone helped one another. We truly congratulated one another on our accomplishments. This time, the atmosphere throughout the crew was just so upbeat and cohesive. “I think that’s been the biggest difference,” Smriti Mandhana continued.
Mandhana scored 434 runs at an outstanding average of 54.25 in nine innings, finishing as the second-highest run scorer in the Women’s World Cup 2025.
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