The Indian women's team will have a chance to script history on Sunday as they face South Africa in the much-anticipated final of the Women's World Cup. The Women in Blue reached the final for the third time in their history by defeating Australia in the semi-finals in what was quite a dramatic encounter. Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. will have a chance of winning their maiden World Cup title.
Ahead of their high-voltage encounter in Navi Mumbai, the Indian men's team shared positive messages for the women's squad.
"On behalf of the entiure support staff and the Indian team, I want to wish the women's team all the very best. Enjoy the occasion, be fearless, don't be scared of making a misatke you have already made the entire country proud," Gautam Gambhir said in a video released by BCCI.
"Wishing the women's team all the very best for the World Cup final. Just enjoy the occasion, be yourself. I think you have had an amazing campaign till now," Suryakumar Yadav said.
"Just enjoy the occasion. You don't get to play a lot of World Cup finals. You don't need to do anything different, you are playing really well. Just back yourself and enjoy the moment. Give your best and everything else will take care of itself," Bumrah said.
India's World Cup journey so far
Notably, Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. had had a great start to the tournament and had won their first two matches, however they then recorded three straight defeats to put their qualification chances under serious jeopardy. However, a win over New Zealand in their sixth game of the league stage saw them finish fourth. It was the victory over Australia that would be the major confidence booster for the hosts heading into the final.
Forgettable record in the finals
Previously, the Indian team have made the World Cup final on two occasions. They did so back in 2005 and 2017, but ended up losing on both the occasions to Australia and England respectively. It remains to be seen if they wi ll manage to put painful history behind them and rise to the occasion aggainst South Africa to lift the coveted World Cup title for the first time ever.