There was also a special moment after the match for Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana, with the experienced duo reflecting on the many occasions they have shared the field together prior to the World Cup.
“I’ve played many World Cups with her (Mandhana) and every time we lost, we went home heartbroken and stayed quiet for a few days,” Harmanpreet said.
“When we returned, we always said, ‘we have to start again from ball one’. It was heartbreaking because we played so many World Cups – reaching finals, semi-finals, and sometimes not even that far. We were always thinking, when will we break this?
“As soon as we got to know that our venue had been changed to DY Patil Stadium, we all got so happy because we’ve always played good cricket there and the biggest thing is the crowd — it’s always so supportive.
“So, when the venue changed from Bangalore, we all started messaging in the group. We were manifesting. We said, ‘The final is going to be there — we won’t leave it now.’
“As soon as we reached Mumbai, we said, ‘We’ve come home now, and we’ll start fresh.’ We didn’t want to look back at previous World Cups — we left them there. The new World Cup had just started.”
