Navi Mumbai | India captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday said her team has endured the pain of losing on several occasions in the past but is now ready to experience the joy of winning a global title, ahead of their Women’s World Cup final against South Africa here.
India and South Africa will face off in the summit clash here at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday, with women’s World Cup set to have a new champion alongside former winners Australia, England and New Zealand.
“We know how it feels to lose. But we are looking forward to how it feels to win. Hopefully tomorrow is a special day for us, we have done a lot of hard work, and it's only about getting everything (done) tomorrow for the team,” Harmanpreet told reporters on the eve of the final.
“We have been talking about that whenever we have enjoyed and given our best, we always get positive results.
“It's a proud moment for me and the entire team, and I'm sure the entire country must be also very proud the way we have played the last two games,” she said.
India will be making their third appearance in a Women’s ODI World Cup final. They had lost to Australia by 98 runs in the 1998 title clash and went down fighting to England by nine runs in the 2017 final. India had also lost the Commonwealth Games gold medal match to Australia in 2022.
“When you are at a stage like a World Cup final, there cannot be any bigger motivation. The team is charged up, players are supporting each other and that shows they are together and how ready we are for this match. We knew long before that the World Cup was in India, and now it is about giving 100 per cent,” Harman replied when asked about motivating her side.
Harmanpreet welcomed the fact that there will be a new ODI world champion on Sunday night.
“It’s good that there are two different teams. We have seen Australia dominating world cricket for so many years and England was also on that stage. The excitement is different,” she said.
The Indian captain asserted that the focus of her team was always on reaching the final and despite three consecutive losses to Australia, South Africa and England in the league stage, they did not feel any need for a “shake up”.
"We didn't shake up even once in the team because even though we lost three big losses, even after that everyone was together and we were all saying that we still have a great opportunity to reach to the finals,” she said.
“That was a positive mindset that helped us to reach to the finals when your team has such a positive mindset and everyone wants to play, to do good for the country and win the World Cup.”
“We were definitely talking about what we wanted to improve, but at the same time, we were all looking at the same goal. This (reaching the final) is a long process, there are ups and downs. Some teams win, some lose. But at the end of the day, it's about how we reach the end,” she said.
Harmanpreet said it is time for her side to go over the finish line.
“We have prepared ourselves in the last two years to put ourselves in every condition. If such a situation comes up, what can we do? We have tried our best. Now it's only about everything coming together and helping the team to pass that line,” she said.
Harmanpreet also hailed South Africa’s journey to their maiden ODI World Cup final.
“No doubt they have played very well (good) cricket even though their start was not that good. The way they came back to this tournament, I think that's outstanding to watch. I think it's a very balanced side,” she said.
“We know that they have good bowling attack and at the same time there is a lot of depth in batting,” Harmanpreet added.
Navi Mumbai | The dynamics of playing a World Cup knockout games are entirely different and South Africa will not rely on their recent record against India in the Women’s World Cup final, said Proteas skipper Laura Wolvaardt here on Saturday.
India, who are in an ODI World Cup final for the third time, have lost each of their three matches to the Proteas since 2017 which includes their narrow three-wicket loss at Visakhapatnam earlier in the league stage.
Wolvaardt, the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 470 runs, recalled India batter Jemimah Rodrigues’ incredible 127 not out against Australia in the semifinal to prove her point.
“Knockout cricket is completely different to league cricket. We’ve seen people are able to do some very special things in knockout games like we saw from Jemi the other night,” Wolvaardt told the media here on Saturday.
“I don't think we're going to be looking into our group game against them. We know we have to play some really good cricket. They're a really strong side and have just come off of a really good game as well, so they'll be high on confidence.
"We can't sort of bring any of our history into this game, whether it would be finals that we've lost or games that we've won against India, we're just really trying to erase all of that stuff and start completely afresh," she added.
South Africa will be up against not just an Indian team chasing their first World Cup title and their first win over the Proteas in the tournament since 2005, but also a packed home crowd.
“It's going to be a very tough game with the whole crowd behind India, probably a sold-out stadium. It's going to be a very exciting opportunity, but at the same time, it puts a lot of pressure on them (India) as well,” Wolvaardt said.
“They have the whole country behind them and are sort of expected to win.
“It's going to be a really big crowd — probably the biggest crowd that a lot of our girls have not played in front of — a lot of eyeballs on the game, a lot of added pressure,” she added.
When asked what it would take to silence the Indian crowd, Wolvaardt replied, "Hopefully we win. I guess that will silence them.”
With neither Australia nor England featuring in the final of the 13th edition, the Women’s World Cup, which began two years before the men’s event in 1973, reflects the growth of women’s cricket, Wolvaardt said.
“It just shows how much the women's game is developing and how different countries are being able to use new resources and develop really good quality cricketers,” she said.
While the Proteas are set for their maiden ODI World Cup final, they have also made it to the summit clashes of the last two T20 World Cups but lost each time.
“I'm really trying not to think about the result in those finals or the first time I was in the final, you automatically think about the trophy and about winning,” Wolvaardt replied.
“The first time you're in those finals it feels like a really big, fast paced event, whereas we need to all slow it down and take a big breath and hopefully we're able to do that as a group.”
Wolvaardt also said she’s not the one with big speeches in dressing room, highlighting the impact of head coach Mandla Mashimby on her side.
“Mandla normally does the really inspirational stuff, that ‘you’re carrying your country’ type of thing. I just come in with a little ‘stay calm girls’ at the end. I think it'll be super important for us to just stay as present as we can tomorrow,” she said.
“There's going to be a lot of noise, a lot happening, a lot of maybe different routines than you're used to in a normal game. But it's just a game of cricket and whichever team is able to do the basics for long and sort of hold their nerve for longer.”
