- By Gurmeet Batra
- Mon, 03 Nov 2025 08:00 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND-W vs SA-W World Cup: India's trailblazing opener Smriti Mandhana, revelling in the euphoria of the moment, described the team's historic Women's World Cup triumph as 'unreal' after the Women in Blue claimed their maiden Women's World Cup title with a 52-run win over South Africa here on Sunday.
After years of unwavering dedication, unrelenting passion, and heartbreaking near-misses, Indian women's cricket finally reached the pinnacle of success and Mandhana's sentiments resonated deeply with the entire Indian squad, who were overwhelmed with joy as they celebrated their crowning moment.
"I don't know how to react to that, it's still sinking in. I haven't been emotional on the cricket field. But yeah, just a very unreal moment, home World Cup and just to read that we are Champions, I just can't, I'm still not able to process it," Mandhana told host broadcasters moments after the historic victory.
Mandhana, who was part of the Indian team that lost the 2020 T20 World Cup final, said the team funnelled those heartbreaks into inspiration.
"Every World Cup we go in and there have been so many heartbreaks for all of us. But we always believe that we have a bigger responsibility with women's cricket and genuinely just to see the support we've got over the last one and a half months and to see people come in, support us," Mandhana said.
"It just... I don't know how to explain the last 40 days but yeah, I mean to end it with a World Cup win today, I will take that, 45 days of not sleeping every night," she added.
Reminiscing on the team's journey since the 2020 blow, Mandhana said renewed focus on fitness, skills and harmony played an important role in India's turnaround.
"The last T20 World Cup for sure was a difficult one for all of us to take. We had a clear focus on trying to work on our fitness, trying to be better at each and every aspect. The super strength of this team is no one will talk about it but it's the way everyone just stuck in and just played for each other," she said.
"In a World Cup like this, you just need everyone's support. Everyone was there for each other, good days, bad days. We enjoyed each other's success. I just can't tell you the way the team environment is, and I think that's really magic," the India opener said.