Indian Railways to Present Rs. 1.30 Crores to Indian Women’s Team
Dec 24, 2018 at 2:34 PM
Following a historic performance by the Indian girls in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup, the Indian Railways have announced a cash reward of Rs. 1.30 crore for 10 members of the Indian Women’s cricket team. Team India reached the final of the tournament after exceptional performances in the group stages and the semi-final but faltered in the final hurdle and lost the final by a narrow margin of 9 runs to hosts England.
Harmanpreet Kaur who smashed a sensational unbeaten 171 against Australia in the semi final was given gazetted officers post along with captain Mithali Raj who went on to become the first female cricketer to notch up 6,000 ODI runs during the group game against Australia. Earlier the BCCI had announced Rs. 50 lakh for each player of the Indian team and Rs. 25 lakh for each member of the support staffs.
On Wednesday after returning from London, the Indian team was given a grand reception at the Chhatrapati Sivaji International Airport in Mumbai. It was an inspirational performance put up by the Indian girls all through the tournament especially when their backs were against the wall. They began with a resounding victory over England courtesy a brilliant knock from opener Smriti Mandhana.
The Indian eves followed it up with victories against West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and looked almost certain to qualify for the semi-final when two losses on a trot against South Africa and Australia put them in a precarious situation. They needed to win their final group match against New Zealand and they responded in a sensational fashion by winning the match by a huge margin.
In the Semis it was a whirlwind knock from the blade of Harmanpreet Kaur which ensured India reached a mammoth 282 in 42 overs and eventually won the match by 36 runs. Jhulan Goswami bowled splendidly in the semis and the finals and returned with 2 and 3 wickets respectively. She was immaculate especially in the final and returned with impressive figures of 3/23 in her allotted 10 overs. Both Mithali and Jhulan deserved a World Cup just like Sachin as they have served the nation successfully for more than a decade and a half.