DEHRADUN
: Cricketer
Mansi Joshi who was part of the Indian team that participated in the Women’s Cricket World Cup in the UK has said that the team lost the final against
England
as it buckled under pressure.
Mansi, who hails from Dehradun and returned to the city on Friday, told TOI, “We were unable to handle the pressure during the final and probably lost the match because of that. But we will play more matches in future and will learn to take the pressure in our stride. We will not repeat our mistakes.”
India had lost by nine runs to England in the match played at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London last Sunday. The 23-year-old medium pacer said the defeat was going to pinch the team for a long time. “It was heart-breaking to lose, especially since we knew that some players like captain Mithali Raj were likely playing their last world cup,” Mansi said.
Other than Mansi, Ekta Bisht from Almora was also part of the Indian cricket team. Both girls, however, were not part of the squad that played the final against England.
Talking about her happiest memory from the tournament, Mansi said, “It was a high point for me to field in the match against defending champion Australia.” She also played two other matches in the tournament - one against Sri Lanka and another against Pakistan.
Mansi was also glad about the kind of attention the women's cricket team had received this year, even as hordes of people queued up at her house near Prince Chowk to catch a glimpse of her.
The player said that there was an apparent shift in the attitude of sports lovers towards women’s cricket. “It was surprising to see the amount of attention we got because the last time that Indian women cricket team reached the semi-finals of the world cup in 2007, the match wasn’t even telecast.”
Just a day before on Thursday, Mansi and other players of the women’s cricket team were hosted by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi who told them that they had made the nation proud.
Mansi said she is hopeful that after the performance of the Indian cricket team, more parents would encourage their daughters to take up the sport. “Women have as much drive and aggression on field as men do but all they need is self-belief, determination and a positive attitude,” she said.
The cricketer also shared that
Sachin Tendulkar was what got her interested in cricket in the first place. “I was seven when I saw Sachin play cricket on TV and I started playing on the street with the boys from the neighbourhood. Around 7 years ago, I was selected in the Haryana team where I am the opening batsman. It was a great moment when I made the cut to the Indian team last year.”
Mansi said that she would now take a two-week break to unwind before she starts training for the T-20 World Cup in West Indies next year.
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