Pratika Rawal, the Indian opener, got offered sweets and eatables from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself at the meeting with the World Cup-winning side. Rawal, who got injured during India's final league stage clash against Bangladesh, was part of India's World Cup victory celebrations in a wheelchair and also arrived at the PMO in the same way, having twisted her ankle badly.
With all the players helping themselves to the sweets offered, Rawal was unable to do so and PM Modi spotted the same. Modi handed one of the offerings to Rawal himself, and the Indian opener was quick to thank him for his gesture. The clip from the full video of PM Modi's meeting with the Indian team went viral.
Watch the video here (from 31:30)
Rawal ended up being the fourth-leading run-getter of the Women's World Cup, amassing 308 runs in six innings, including a century in the penultimate league stage clash against New Zealand. Rawal formed a highly successful opening pair with Smriti Mandhana, adding 497 runs as an opening pair. 497 runs was the second-best tally for a pair in one World Cup edition on the list of partnerships.
That's why Pratika was gutted to miss out on the knockouts, and she mentioned to the Prime Minister that everyone wanted to win the World Cup for her. Each of Pratika's teammates was feeling for her as she couldn't finish what was eventually a successful campaign.
Shafali Verma replaced Pratika in the side and ended up writing a fairytale for herself. The right-hander, coming off some serious form in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy, got out for a 5-ball 10 in the semi-final, but smashed 87 in the final against South Africa, the highest by an Indian in the summit clash of the Women's World Cup in history and also took two wickets. Shafali was adjudged the Player of the Match and ended up making a difference for the team, coming in late as a replacement player.
