‘Did not expect such a grand response to our performance’

Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj said she did not expect such a grand response in the country to her team's performance in the recent World Cup and hoped the support would continue in future. "I did not expect that there will be such a reception in India. We lost the match (final) and as a team we were all very sad," she told reporters here on the sidelines of an event.

The appreciation, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been very nice, she said. "But, this appreciation and positive feedback, from Prime Minister to the Chief Minister (of Telangana), it's been really nice. Because, all these years, nobody gave us this kind of acknowledgement," she said. There has been a positive atmosphere for the team with the matches being shown live on television and the social media also playing a role, she said. "The team also did well in the world cup. Overall I think it was, I wouldn't say, good, because of the result. But, we have created that buzz about women's cricket in India among people. I am only hoping it will be good times from henceforth," Raj added.

The Indian women's cricket team finished runner-up, losing to England by nine runs in a nail-biting final. Raj had on July 12 created a world record by becoming the first player to cross 6,000 runs in the history of women's OneDay Internationals (ODIs) during the World Cup match against Australia in Bristol.