ICC Women's CWC25 Final: Harmanpreet Kaur & Laura Wolvaardt Press Conference Highlights 🏆

Harmanpreet Kaur | ICC WCW25 | India post-match press conference | 2 November '25
[Reporter: Translated]
It has been a dream come true. What is the feeling? Tell us about that. And when did you feel that you could win?

[Harmanpreet Kaur: Translated]
We felt we could win from the first ball itself. Because the way our team was playing in the last three games, a lot of things changed for us — especially our self-belief. We have played good cricket for a long time. We knew what we could do as a team. So, from the first ball itself, I had the belief that it doesn’t matter – because we don’t normally win the toss – we knew we had to bat first. We knew there would be tough conditions for batting, but credit goes to Smriti and Shafali; they handled the first 10 overs very well.
Our aim was simple – we knew that if we thought of a big target, we would come under pressure. The main thing was to keep batting and keep playing our game. We tried to score 300 runs on the board; we were one run short. But after that, I think we came onto the field as a strong unit. Whenever we needed it, we got a breakthrough. It was a very good match. It seems easy to say now, but there was a lot of tension in between when they were batting – like Laura, she was not giving a chance. But at the end of the day, I’m feeling great. I don’t know how to express it, but I’m just trying to tell you what I’m feeling.

[Reporter: Translated]
The Indian women’s team has been waiting for this trophy for a long time. Previous generations have also made sacrifices. How special was the moment when you shared it with Mithali and Jhulan, for the previous generations?

[Harmanpreet Kaur: Translated]
Yes, Jhulan Di was my biggest support. When I joined the team, she was leading it. She always supported me in my early days when I was very raw and didn’t know much about cricket. I used to play with boys, and the school principal picked me up, and within a year, I started representing the country. In the initial days, Anjum supported me a lot. I always remember how she used to take me along with her team. I learnt a lot from her and passed it on to my team. Both of them have been a great support for me. I’m very grateful that I got to share a special moment with them. It was a very emotional moment. I think we all were waiting for this. Finally, we were able to touch this trophy.

[Reporter: Translated]
We will talk about the two main characters of your match today — Deepti and Shafali. How was Deepti’s tournament? 21 wickets, the most in the tournament. Today’s match was very special — 55 runs and 5 for 39. How big a performance has she given throughout the tournament?
And Shafali’s introduction came at a stage where it looked uncertain how the team would balance Pratika’s exit. Shafali was not in the team’s plans during World Cup selection, not even in the reserves. So where did you write this script? Out of the blue, she came and played such a big role in the final. Tell us about that.

[Harmanpreet Kaur: Translated]
I think it’s all destiny — I really believe in that. And we didn’t want Pratika to face any such thing. When she got injured, everybody was crying. Even before that, when Yastika got injured during our training camp, everybody was crying because this team is very special. They pray for each other. They stay together in ups and downs.
First, Yastika leaving the team was heart-breaking for us. Then, when we were just starting to do well, Pratika got injured. But when Shafali came, we didn’t want her to feel that she came in under an injury cloud. Even Pratika was so positive. I think everyone took everything positively. They didn’t think, “Why is this happening to us?” Before the tournament started, we had an injury; in the middle of the tournament, we had a big injury. Yet, everybody was so positive. Everyone was thinking that our end goal was this trophy. And for the trophy

[Reporter: Translated]
Before you left, you said that you have to feel the feeling after winning — because every time you got close and then lost. So now that you know that feeling, what is the difference?
And secondly, what are the 2–3 biggest factors because of which the team is holding the trophy?

[Harmanpreet Kaur: Translated]
First, you were talking about the feeling. Like I said earlier, I’m just trying to express what I’m feeling. I’m numb; I’m not able to understand. They asked two questions; I answered only one! So, it’s just that there were ups and downs, but the team had self-belief. I’ve been saying this since day one. We weren’t looking to the left or right. We were only looking at our main end goal.

[Reporter: Translated]
During fielding, you were talking to yourself — or praying, maybe. What was that?

[Harmanpreet Kaur: Translated]
That’s personal, I won’t tell you all.

For more cricket updates from us:

WEBSITE: https://cric-mate.com

MEDIA SUPPORT: https://Witbuz.com

#cwc25 #harmanpreetkaur #laurawolvaardt #indvssa