Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was full of praise for captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s post-match gesture when she invited former skippers Mithali Raj, Anjum Chopra and Jhulan Goswami during their celebrations with the Women’s World Cup in Navi Mumbai.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said the Indian men’s team had never displayed such humility and grace in victory.
“I am actually taking my hat out to the Indian women’s team. The Indian men’s team has never done something like this. We say it in front of the media, but I’ve never
seen them give credit to the previous generation. They always talk like ‘my generation team is better than yours’,” Ashwin said.
“But this women’s team… Anjum Chopra was there, Mithali Raj was there to see them in delight. You are the people who sprinkled the seeds and watered them — the seeds that are standing as winners today. I found that fascinating. I found that unbelievably good.”
Ashwin said that the victory was the culmination of years of struggle, resilience, and groundwork laid by generations of women cricketers.
“The victory that Indian women have got today has not been achieved today. It’s been a work of 25 years... probably three decades,” he said.
Out of BBL
Ashwin has been ruled out of his BBL debut season with Sydney Thunder after suffering a knee injury. He was forced to undergo a procedure and would be unavailable to play.