'After that knock by Harmanpreet, the craze for women's cricket went up in India.'
India women's historica World Cup triumph turned out to be a dream-come-true moment for spin great Neetu David.
David's five-year term as the chief selector ended on a perfect note as the 15-member Indian team she and her committee picked, went on to script history by winning the ICC women's World Cup at home.
For David, it was a culmination of a lifelong dream -- to see the India women's team finally end their wait for a World title.
David came agonisingly close to laying her hands on the trophy two decades ago, when the Indian team led by Mithali Raj suffered a heartbreaking defeat in a low-scoring final against Australia at Centurion on April 10, 2005.
The left-arm spinner had finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 2005 World Cup with 20 scalps to her name.
David, who featured in three World Cups, boasts of a stunning record of 30 wickets from 20 games at an economy rate of 2.88. In her earlier two World Cup appearances in 1997 and 2000, India lost in the semi-finals both times.
Kanpur-born David, who made her debut as a 17 year old in a Test match against New Zealand in Nelson in 1995, still holds the world record for the best bowling figures in an innings in women's Test cricket -- 8/53 against England in Jamshedpur -- in November 1995.
David is finally at peace, knowing she played a part in India's first ever World Cup triumph. But the journey was not easy -- she oversaw a difficult transition period that saw legends Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami retire, while nurturing the next generation of stars like Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal and Shree Charani.
"It was a perfect mix of youth and experience coming together to create history for India," David tells Rediff's Harish Kotian in an exclusive interview.
"Till now, the girls in India were playing cricket as a sport but after this World Cup win, you will see that the girls will choose cricket as a career option."
How does it feel to see India women win the World Cup for the first time? When you were a player you came to close to winning the World Cup in 2005, losing to Australia in a low scoring game.
Now that the barrier has been finally broken by this Indian team what does it mean for you?
This was a dream not only for me but all the women in the country that we win a World Cup. The men's team have won all the World Cups and we were also keen for the women's team to win their first World Cup.
We came very close to winning the World Cup in 2005 and then in 2017 but we could not break the final barrier. But this Indian team managed to finally achieve it, they worked so hard for the last few years to achieve this victory.
The biggest contributor for this World Cup victory has been from BCCI. Since they took over the women's cricket in 2006, the state of women's cricket in India has undergone a huge change and the results are showing now.
As you said, the women's cricket in India merging with the BCCI in 2006 made a big difference. Can you tell us how things changed for women's cricket after 2006, since you played a lot of cricket before the merger as well?
I played a lot of cricket before 2006, it was very tough then we didn't even have money to travel for the cricket matches. We didn't get any match fees. That time women's cricket in India was run by WCAI (Women's Cricket Association of India), then the secretary of the association was Anuradha Dutt. I remember she used to fund our travels and expenses from her own pocket or she used to find a sponsor for us. She supported us a lot during those tough times.
Women's cricket didn't improve in those years because in those days the cricketers used to mostly belong to middle class or lower middle class families, so they didn't have much money to spend on cricket.
Cricket is an expensive game, the kits are very costly, and we struggled to get proper grounds to play and practice.
After merging with the BCCI in 2006, we got a lot of good facilities, we got professional coaches, we got world class equipment and the main thing is that we were allowed to play on the best grounds in the country, the biggest stadiums.
So when you get such facilities, you are motivated to work harder in practice and give your best in the matches. Everything around us became professional, so the level of women's cricket in India improved greatly.
After that, the major turning point for India women's cricket came after Harmanpreet Kaur's amazing innings of 171 against Australia in the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup. I would say that was the point from where women's cricket actually underwent a big change in India.
I myself observed after that incredible knock, that in every state when we played cricket at different levels, the girls were satisfied with scoring 50-60 runs but after that knock the craze for women's cricket went up in India.
All the girls wanted to score big centuries and be a match-winner like Harmanpreet. So I would credit that knock for bringing about a big change in women's cricket in India.
You were the chief selector for the last five years till recently and picked this team which won the World Cup.
You oversaw a difficult transition period which saw seniors like Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj retire while blooding in a lot of youngsters.
Were you confident at the start of the World Cup that this team could do something special?
Definitely, I was very confident because I had personally witnessed how hard the girls had worked in the last couple of years.
Amol Muzumdar, our head coach, he worked so hard with the girls one on one, then our bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi who has put in a lot of work with the girls to improve their bowling.
Similarly, our fielding coach Munish Bali has been instrumental in the improvement of our fielding. We always faced criticism for our fielding in the past but our fielding is on par with the best as you witnessed in the World Cup.
Even the team physios, physical trainers, medical team, all these people have worked very hard in the last few years.
I would say it worked in our favour that we had experienced players in the squad, who delivered in crunch situations during the World Cup, while the young players they played with a lot of passion and showcased their talent to the world. So it was a perfect mix of youth and experience coming together to create history for India.
Do you see women's cricket in India getting a big lift because of this triumph? Will more and more girls take up cricket as a career?
Yes, you are right. Till now, the girls in India were playing cricket as a sport but after this World Cup win, you will see that the girls will choose cricket as a career option.
If you someone like Kranti Gaud, she comes from a lower middle class family, Radha Yadav's father (Omprakash) is a vegetable vendor. So that barrier no longer exists that cricket can only be played by rich people.
Now parents in India will no longer think that they cannot afford to enroll their daughters for cricket training, that is a thing of the past.
Now, any girl no matter from which part of the country she hails from, she can take up cricket, there is no stopping her. There are a lot of avenues to take up cricket professionally for young girls in India.
The women's team is getting a cash prize of Rs 51 crore and even the selection panel, including you, will be getting part of the reward. For the first time, the women's selectors are also getting recognised.
What do you think of this generous gesture by BCCI?
BCCI has always supported women's cricket, right from the start. Jay Shah (former BCCI secretary; ICC president) has always been there for the women's players, he has always given whatever is required. His support has been tremendous.
This reward by BCCI after winning the World Cup is huge, it will be a big boost for women's cricket because winning a World Cup is no small thing, it will inspire so many generations of young girls to take up the game. It will motivate the players to give their best every time they step on to the field.
I am so happy that the BCCI reward is much more than what the ICC is giving the World Cup winning team.
It is a great thing that they are also recognising the hard work put in by the selectors. The selectors have always stayed behind the scenes, so that's why to recognise their efforts is really special.
Don't miss Part 2 of this interview!
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