‘Looking forward to how it feels…’: Harmanpreet Kaur confident on Indian team’s aim to lift World Cup trophy

On the eve of their Women’s World Cup final against South Africa, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said her team has endured the pain of losing on a number of occasions in the past, but is now ready to experience the joy of winning a global title. The Women in Blue will face the Proteas in the summit clash in Navi Mumbai on November 2nd.

“We know how it feels to lose. But we are looking forward to how it feels to win. Hopefully tomorrow is a special day for us, we have done a lot of hard work, and it’s only about getting everything (done) tomorrow for the team.We have been talking about that whenever we have enjoyed and given our best, we always get positive results. It’s a proud moment for me and the entire team, and I’m sure the entire country must be also very proud the way we have played the last two games,” Harmanpreet told reporters on the eve of the final.

Indian team will be making their third appearance in a Women’s ODI World Cup final. They had previously lost to Australia by 98 runs in the 1998 title clash and went down fighting to England by nine runs in the 2017 final. The Women in Blue had also lost the Commonwealth Games gold medal match to Australia in 2022.

“When you are at a stage like a World Cup final, there cannot be any bigger motivation. The team is charged up, players are supporting each other and that shows they are together and how ready we are for this match. We knew long before that the World Cup was in India, and now it is about giving 100 per cent,” Harman replied when asked about motivating her side.

Speaking about the ODI World Cup witnessing a new champion on Sunday night, Harmanpreet said, “It’s good that there are two different teams. We have seen Australia dominating world cricket for so many years and England was also on that stage. The excitement is different.”