Shikha Pandey, a member of the Indian Women’s team who finished as the runners-up in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup, was felicitated by Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar at the Assembly Complex in Porvorim. The quadrennial event was hosted by England and they were the eventual champions of the tournament as well. The English eves defeated the Indian girls by 9 runs in a thrilling final match. The match was in India’s grasp but it was the pressure of a final which denied India their maiden World Cup.
Following her felicitation, Shikha said that India’s sensational performance in the World Cup has helped in improving the infrastructure of the game for girls. Their performance has also given the budding women cricketers to take up the game on a professional front.
“The kind of cricket we have played in the World Cup will propel other girls around the world to take the game professionally. Their parents will also support them. Prior to this, it is not used to be like that. Following the Indian women’s cricket team good performance in the World Cup, a platform has been created for the girls to come up and take the cricket seriously,” Shikha was quoted as saying by ANI.
She was hopeful that cricket in Goa will improve in the coming days despite the place being more famous for football.
“Although Goa is famous for football, there are many girls coming forward to play cricket. I would not say that the opportunities are less in Goa. There is a lot of support (for cricket). One thing very good about Goa is that people are very open-minded. There is no differentiation between girls and boys. I believe we will get women’s cricket to a higher pedestal in Goa,” Shikha said.
Shikha has been a regular feature in the Indian team since her debut in 2014 and was instrumental in helping India to reach the final of the World Cup. It was only the 2nd time in history that India qualified for the final.
The medium pacer bagged three wickets against the Proteas and a couple against hosts England in the group stages. She was impressive in the semi-final against Australia as she returned with exceptional figures of 2/17 in her quota.