Jhulan Goswami cries, Mithali Raj says 'thank you' as India hand World Cup trophy to legends in uncut live broadcast

One has the most runs in the history of women's cricket. The other has the most wickets. Both donned the Indian blue for nearly two decades but were unable to lay their hands on a World Cup trophy. They came close twice. Once in 2005 and then in 2017 but on both occasions, heartbreak was the outcome. On November 3, 2025 (it was past midnight), their wait was over. Their long vigil finally saw light at the end of it all, albeit as former cricketers.

After the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team gifted India a watershed moment in the history of the nation's women's cricket by winning the maiden World Cup, they handed over the trophy to Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami during the victory lap at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium to honour the legends.

Mithali Raj, the first captain to lead the Indian team to a Women's World Cup final, could only say, "thank you" and "I am so happy" in return. Always a woman of few words, Mithali let her eyes do the talking when she was asked to lift the trophy with the team. In many ways, this was her team, her dream. The Harmans, the Smritis, and the Deeptis all made their debut under her and went on to become world beaters. On Sunday night in Navi Mumbai, they finally became world champions. So did Mithali and Jhulan.

Jhulan Goswami could not hold back her tears as she gave Harmanpreet a long hug when the parade reached her. It was now her turn to hold the trophy. The only woman to take more than 200 ODI wickets celebrated like a child in a candy store. She hugged Smriti Mandhana and then shared a few words with Richa Ghosh before Anjum Chopra, another former India captain, joined in the party. She too was honoured with the trophy.

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The first to receive the trophy from the Indian team was, however, Reema Malhotra, another former India cricketer, who gave it her all during her playing days. She sang "Sadda Haq," a famous song from the Bollywood movie 'Rockstar' with the victorious team.

In many ways, these five minutes, where even the broadcasters decided not to go off air and focus on the raw emotional scenes -- not often do you see Mayanti Langer at a loss for words -- described the past, present and future of women's cricket in India and what their victory against South Africa means.

Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Kaur revealed what it was like sharing the gold with two of India's biggest stalwarts.

"Jhulan Di was my biggest support. When I joined the team, she was leading it. She always supported me in my early days when I was very raw and didn't know much about cricket. I used to play with boys, and the school principal picked me up, and within a year, I started representing the country. In the initial days, Anjum (Chopra) provided me with a lot of support. I always remember how she used to take me along with her team. I learnt a lot from her and passed it on to my team. Both of them have been a great support for me. I am very grateful that I got to share a special moment with them. It was a very emotional moment. I think we all were waiting for this. Finally, we were able to touch this trophy," she said.

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