For Ind ia’s new World Champions, the journey from DY Patil Stadium’s roar to the quiet, high-security lanes of 7 Lok Kalyan Marg was more than a change of setting. It was the state’s highest office formally recognising a campaign that has shifted the center of gravity of Indian cricket towards its women.
Three after their 52-run win over South Africa in the Women’s ODI World Cup final, Harmanpreet Kaur and her team walked into the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi with the trophy in hand and medals around their necks. In the absence of an open-top parade, the meeting became the country’s primary stage for honouring a long-awaited world title.
The deserved recognition
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the World Cup-winning squad, the support staff, and senior BCCI officials at his official residence on Wednesday evening. The interaction came after the Prime Minister’s Office formally invited the board to bring the Champions to Lok Kalyan Marg.
The players had arrived in Delhi on Tuesday and checked into their team hotel, where they were greeted by fans and officials. On Wednesday afternoon, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and the rest of the squad left together for PM’s residence, with the World Cup trophy serving as the visual focal point of the convoy.
Security was tightened around the area as the team bus rolled in. Inside, Modi interacted with the players and support staff, congratulating them on finally converting years of so close campaigns into India’s maiden Women’s ODI World Cup crown.
The Prime Minister posed for photographs with the full squad and the trophy, images that are set to become a part of Indian cricket’s new iconography. He praised the team’s comeback in the tournament after three consecutive defeats. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur recollected meeting him without the trophy in 2017.
For the players, the event capped a whirlwind 72 hours that began in Navi Mumbai and moved swiftly through media duties, receptions, and travels. On the field, Harmanpreet’s leadership, Mandhana’s runs, Deepti’s control, Verma’s audacity, and a series of supporting roles had fuelled India’s run to the title. Off the field, this meeting pulled their story into the heart of political and cultural visibility.
There may have been no open bus and no seafront gathering, but the symbolism of the champions carrying their trophy into India’s most closely watched address was unmistakable. For Harmanpreet Kaur and her squad, the World Cup journey now reads as a complete arc, from dressing room huddles and DY Patil’s noise to the carpeted corridors of power in New Delhi.
