'Bigger than any other World Cup we have won' - R Ashwin on India's 2025 Women's World Cup triumph

Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has justified why he feels India's 2025 Women's World Cup title triumph is an 'even bigger and more colossal achievement' than any World Cup India have ever won. The 2025 title win was India's first in 13 editions of the 50-over tournament.

He recounted an incident from the 2017-18 season involving the presence of Ambati Rayudu and Mithali Raj at the same venue. However, members in the the jam-packed stadium failed to identify the then-captain of the women's unit. Ashwin opined that women's cricket as a whole has come a long way since that time.

"Many years back, Ambati Rayudu was playing at the Hyderabad Gymkhana Stadium. It was in 2017/18, and he was already a sensation then, and hence the stadium was packed. However, nobody knew that Mithali Raj, then the captain of the Indian women's team, was practicing at the same venue. Look where we have arrived now. I would truly rate this as an even bigger and more colossal achievement than any other World Cup that we have won, because it inspires girls to play the game and consider the sport as a career option," stated Ashwin in a video on his YouTube channel.

The erstwhile off-spinner additionally suggested that a full-fledged documentary can be made on the entire title-winning run. He was of the view that the film should be made taking in account the contributions of every player and members of the coaching and support staff of the squad rather than a select few individuals.

"This is such a significant achievement that it can be adapted into a movie by directors and producers. They have to change the way they tell the story. They cannot show that India won only because of 1-2 players. That's not possible. People will always talk about Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet. But I want to see a story on Amol Muzumdar, on Shree Charani, and how she stood her ground. Remember, she wasn't part of the scheme until June. I would love to see such small stories told in an 8-episode documentary," he added.

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India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in the final of the mega event to taste ultimate glory in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, November 2. Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma earned the Player of the Match and the Player of the Tournament awards, respectively.