The title slipped out of their grasp but the Indian women's cricket team earned plaudits aplenty for their gritty World Cup campaign with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and the
Sachin Tendulkar leading the tributes.
Commenting on the all-round show put by the Mithali Raj-led side, Geeta Phogat, PV Sindhu Mary Kom, Sakshi Malik, Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Shikhar Dhawan, Harsha Bhogle congratulated the team performance on Twitter.
As expected, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (
BCCI) presented cheques for Rs 50 lakh each to the cricketers and Rs 25 lakh each to the support staff of the team.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu promoted 10 Railways players in the Indian team and gave away cash awards amounting to a total of Rs 1.30 crore to them.
The Railways even promoted team captain
Mithali Raj to the post of OSD (Sports) in Hyderabad-headquartered South Central Railway (SCR).
Praising the Railways for their support, Mithali said that it was the only institution that supported women cricketers.
"Railway is the only institution that gives jobs to women cricketers and 90-95 per cent women cricketers in the country work with the Railways.
"When I started playing cricket, there were no facilities or privileges. Now the recognition and support from Railways will indeed motivate other women cricketers," she added.