Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur was bestowed with the Champion Of The World Award at the CNN-News18’s prestigious Indian of the Year Awards 2025, held in New Delhi on Friday. Led by Harmanpreet, the team delivered a composed and determined campaign to secure India’s first-ever ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, defeating South Africa in a tense final in front of the home supporters.
Harmanpreet thus became the fourth ever Indian captain to win a cricket World Cup at the senior level, joining the likes of Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma.
“Lifting the World Cup was a dream we cherished since childhood. I would like to thank Jay Shah for his contributions to the Women’s cricket team – the pay parity and the Women’s Premier League
(WPL) initiatives have been immensely helpful,” Harmanpreet said after receiving the award from ICC Chairman and former BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
In the lead-up to the World Cup, the Indian team won three ODI series, besides winning their first-ever bilateral T20I series in England as well.
India had previously reached the World Cup final in 2005 and 2017 but finished runners-up on both occasions. This time, they ended the long wait for a global title with a memorable run, overcoming two tournament favourites – defending champions Australia in the semi-final and an in-form South Africa in the final.
Their campaign opened with a confident win over co-hosts Sri Lanka, followed by a commanding performance against Pakistan. A difficult phase followed, with three narrow defeats to South Africa (three wickets), Australia (three wickets), and England (four runs).
Those losses left India in a tight spot, but the team responded in spectacular fashion. A 53-run win over New Zealand in Navi Mumbai secured their place in the semi-finals. Their final league match against Bangladesh, a dead rubber, was washed out. The game also brought a setback: in-form opener Pratika Rawal suffered an injury that ruled her out of the tournament, prompting Shafali Verma’s late call-up.
In the semi-final against an all-conquering Australia, India took their performance up a notch and created history by completing the highest successful chase in women’s ODIs, driven by Jemimah Rodrigues’ unbeaten century and a vital 89 from Harmanpreet Kaur.
A confident India carried that momentum into the final, defending 299 against a strong South African side. Deepti Sharma led with a five-wicket haul, while Shafali delivered an important all-round performance – scoring 87 off 78 balls and taking two wickets for 36 runs in seven overs. At a packed DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, the crowd’s rendition of Vande Mataram marked a fitting celebration as India became world champions.
