“The Indian men’s team has never done something like this” - Ravi Ashwin lauds the Indian women’s team for a heart-winning gesture

Former Indian off-spinner and analyst Ravi Ashwin has heaped praise on the Indian women’s team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, for giving the trophy to Mithali Raj, the former Indian talismanic batter and ex-skipper of the Indian team.

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For the unversed, Team India bagged a 52-run win over the South Africa Women’s team in the grand finale of the ICC ODI Women’s World Cup 2025 to lift the silverware in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, November 2.

Interestingly, former Indian greats Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, and Anjum Chopra were part of the broadcast set-up for the campaign and were present at the venue during the trophy presentation. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team was quick to give the trophy to the former greats, which caught the immediate attention of many.

"Even yesterday, the Indian team gave the trophy to Mithali Raj. Why did they do that? I actually take my hat off to the Indian women's team for that. The Indian men's team has never done something like this. Sometimes in front of the media, we say things because that's the media trend - that 'this person did this' or 'that person did that'. But I haven't often seen anyone giving true credit to the previous generation. Usually, it becomes about 'my generation's team is good' and 'your generation's team wasn't that great.' I've seen a lot of such discussions," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

"This women's team - Anjum Chopra was there, Mithali Raj was there - and by handing them the trophy, they allowed them to see with joy that the seeds they once planted and nurtured are now standing tall as winners today. I found that fascinating, unbelievably good. Because this victory that the Indian women achieved didn't come today. It's the result of 25 years of work, maybe two or even three decades,” he added.

While the Indian women’s team reached the ICC ODI World Cup finals earlier in 2005 and 2017, they failed to lift the silverware against Australia and England, respectively. However, in the third instance, they went on to clinch the title, creating history.

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