This is just the beginning – Harmanpreet Kaur believes greater things are coming India’s way

India buried the ghosts of the past as they lifted the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 last night, in Navi Mumbai. 8 years back, Harmanpreet Kaur was a part of the 2017 World Cup squad and scored a crucial half-century while India was trying to chase down 229 in the final. Much to India’s woes a late collapse left them stranded and they eventually lost the World Cup.

However, Kaur, now captain of the Indian side, finally earned her redemption, as India carved history at Dr. DY Patil Stadium. Talking at the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet Kaur dedicated the win to all the preceding teams who came before and missed out on the ultimate prize by a whisker. She also mentioned how this was just the beginning of something way more special coming up for Indian women's cricket.

Kaur said, “Definitely. Every time, after every World Cup, we come as a team and we always discuss here, like, what we have to do to cross that, you know, that line. And this time, last two years, Amol sir was there with the team and he was, you know, always telling us that this is not something, you know, this team is expecting from you guys. You have to come up with something special and, you know, you have to keep preparing yourself for the bigger occasion. And I think we should give credit to our support staff and BCCI for showing trust in us. And, you know, this team was there for the last two years. We didn't make so many changes. I think that shows they're really interested in us. And today, I think because of everyone, we are standing here.”

She concluded with a message for the future, stating, “This is the start. We wanted to break this barrier. And now, our next plan is to make this a habit. Because, you know, we are waiting for this moment. Now, this moment has come. Now, let's just make this happen, you know. Now, next year there's also World Cup and then Champions Trophy is there. So, so many big occasions are coming. We just want to, you know, keep improving day by day. This is not the end. This is just the beginning. And we just want to keep giving our best.”