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What’s the story?
The Indian women’s cricket team won the Team of the Year Award, which was one of the many awards given during the inaugural Indian Sports Honours, held in Mumbai on Saturday.
The side's captain Mithali Raj celebrated a delightful double as she also picked up the Indian Sportswoman of the Year (Team Sports) award.
In case you didn’t know
The Indian ladies took the world by storm during this year’s ICC Women’s World Cup in England and contrary to expectations, reached the final only to lose to the hosts in a thrilling game.
The heart of the matter
The Indian Sports Honours award which was founded by RP-SG group in partnership with Virat Kohli foundation, with the motive to recognise the contributions of different sportspersons of the nation, held its first edition on Saturday.
The Mithali Raj-led outfit beat stern competition from the Indian junior hockey team, senior cricket, hockey and kabaddi teams and women's hockey team to bag the honour.
What’s next?
All the nominated teams had performed superbly over the last one year. It was a tough choice for the jury, but the fact that they chose the women’s cricket team as worthy winners, emphasises the enormous achievement of Mithali’s girls, who won a lot of hearts even after losing the World Cup final.
They will take huge inspiration from the recognition which they received yesterday and embark on a new journey, where they will no longer be considered as underdogs.
Author’s take
This type of awards are held in foreign countries every year and the organisers of Indian Sports Honours have done a great job by taking a cue from those ceremonies. Indian men’s cricket team have hardly put a foot wrong in the last one year and when they are trumped by the women’s team, you should be rest assured about the squad’s class.
