India's agonising wait for a maiden world title in women's cricket came to an end when the Shafali Verma-led side defeated England by seven wickets in the final of the inaugural ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup in Potchefstroom. Before the historic triumph at Potchefstroom, India had finished runners-up in the finals of three World Cups finals -- twice in 2005 and 2017 ODI World Cups while once in the 2020 T20 World Cup, apart from ending up with a silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold-medal final. One of the members of the winning team Shweta Sherawat received a grand welcome in New Delhi. And the vice-captain grooved with her family and friends during the welcome.
Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar along with BCCI secretary Jay Shah and other board office-bearers felicitated the Shafali Verma-led side that won the inaugural edition of U-19 Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa, before the start of the third and final T20I between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Wednesday.
Tendulkar graced the fans at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad ahead of the third and final T20I between India and New Zealand on Wednesday. The batting maestro, Jay Shah, BCCI president Roger Binny, vice-president Rajiv Shukla and others, also presented the team with a Rs 5 crore cheque. Addressing the fans on the special occasion, Tendulkar took centerstage and the entire stadium burst into the iconic "Sachin Sachin" chants. He then used the iconic 'Kemcho' line to address the crowd's respect. "Kemcho Ahmedabad? Majaa-ma?" he said.
"Firstly I would like to congratulate our Women's Under-19 cricket team for winning the World Cup. What a fabulous achievement. I can assure you that the entire nation and well-wishers of Indian cricket will celebrate and cherish this victory for years to come," Tendulkar was quoted as saying in a BCCI video, released on their social media handles. The 49-year-old also recalled his introduction to the sport and hailed the pioneers in women's cricket for laying a solid platform for young girls to excel in cricket.
"My dream started in 1983 when I was just 10 years young. I would like to thank the past players who made it possible for the girls in the country to dream big. Shantha Rangaswamy, Diana Edulji, Anjum Chopra, Mithali Raj, Jhulan (Goswami), and many others," he said.
