What Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur told the team during innings break before Women’s World Cup win: ‘Haarenge toh…’
India women's team bowler Kranti Goud reveals what Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said in the dressing room that inspired the team before before winning the final.
It wasn’t just what the Indian women’s cricket team did on the field on Sunday night that won them the World Cup; it was what was said mid-game that lit a fire in their hearts. India’s medium-fast bowler Kranti Goud reveals the moment shared in the dressing room that united the team like never before.
“Once we returned to the dressing room after batting in the first innings, our captain Harman (Kaur) di looked at us all and told us one thing — jeetenge toh ek saath aur haarenge toh bhi ek saath. Aaj ke din field pe jao aur apna kuch de do and put your bodies on the line. Jo karna hai, jaise karna hai karo… Mar jayenge lekin ball rokenge.’ And once she said this, it just brought a different energy in all of us,” Kranti shares, her voice still carrying the emotion of that moment.
The 22-year-old admits the team’s determination never wavered, but one moment earlier in the tournament gave them even deeper purpose. “Before the semi-final against Australia, a woman came up to the team with her four-month-old daughter and said, ‘Mujhe apni bacchi ko bade hoke cricketer banana hai aur aap sab se inspire hokar banegi yeh.’ That moved us. We were determined to win the World Cup for that little girl and for the countless young girls around India who were watching us, dreaming that one day they too would play for their country just like us.”
Born in Madhya Pradesh, Kranti had already made headlines with her Player of the Match performance in the high-stakes clash against Pakistan earlier in the tournament. But nothing, she says, compares to the joy of lifting the trophy. “This is a feeling like nothing else, so we had to celebrate the entire night,” she laughs. “Bahut thoda sa soye hain lekin sukoon se soye hain, because the World Cup trophy is ours.”
