New Delhi, Nov 5 : India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana opened up on her emotions after winning a maiden World Cup trophy and reaching a significant milestone in her career. She said that losing games didn't make her emotional but instead motivated her to improve, as she knew that a major victory would be the moment when she would get emotional, as had happened after the World Cup win.

The Indian opener also mentioned how the missed opportunities of the team coming close to winning major tournaments but facing heartbreaks in the knockouts left a mark on her heart but at the same time motivated her and the team to work hard and have the 'Champions' tag on their chest.

'I have been playing international cricket for over a decade now. We have had 2017 and then 2020, a little bit of heartbreak, and then a lot of semifinal heartbreaks as well, where we thought we could go over the line. Every time that happened, it left a lot of marks within your heart. There is only motivation to get better and try and have 'champions' on our chest, but really, really happy and proud of the team. As an athlete, it feels amazing because you play cricket to win the World Cup; you dream about that as a kid. To play in front of 50-plus odd thousand people in your home city and to do it, I am just really proud of the team,' she said in a video shared by the BCCI.

Speaking of showcasing her emotions on the cricket field, Mandhana said, 'I don't have words for them. I think today is the max emotion I have had on the cricket field for sure. I always thought that it is going to happen to me. Whenever we lost a match, I saw a lot of girls crying, but it never really made me emotional because it kind of only motivated me to think, 'How do I get better'.

'But I knew that winning is going to make me more emotional than losing, so today for sure it felt unreal. And genuinely, I mean, we won everything; it was great, but then looking at the teammates and the way the environment has been in the last 35-40 days, it just made me emotional that for this World Cup for this group of girls, I feel this is the best possible group of humans together ' and something of that sort definitely makes me emotional,' she added.

Team India came close to winning the World Cup in the 2017 edition of the tournament. They beat Australia in the semi-final, courtesy of Harmanpreet Kaur's whirlwind knock of 171 not out, and faced England in the summit clash at the iconic Lord's. However, the hosts performed a bit better than the Mithali Raj-led side and clinched the silverware with a nine-run win.

Mandhana said that while the 2017 World Cup was a landmark moment for the women's game in India, the 2025 victory will 'inspire a lot of young girls to play cricket'.

'2017 was a landmark moment for women's cricket in India and people in India understood that there is a women's team and they play cricket as well. But this World Cup at home and in the last one and a half months, what we felt in terms of support of people wherever we played, wherever we went, and today I remember we were stepping into the bus, it was raining a little, but there were thousands of fans cheering for us and wishing us all the luck. And as a women's cricketer for sure, to feel all of this love, and I remember when 'Maa Tujhe Salam' was playing at the ground, it just felt unreal. As a kid for sure, we've seen empty stadiums, we've seen all of that, but to see a fully packed stadium and then to lift the trophy in front of them, I'm sure it's going to inspire a lot of young girls to play cricket,' Mandhana said.

Mandhana, when asked what message she would share with her younger self, said that the madness she had for batting will one day help the country win a World Cup, and you must 'keep the madness going to achieve something.'

'I don't think this team, these girls will understand the magnitude of this win, but I'm sure in the coming years they'll realise what they have done for women's cricket. Let's turn this into something good to find a place for me and you. Let's turn this into something more and find a world we didn't live in.

"The only message to my younger self is that whatever madness I had for batting, I would only tell her that one day it's going to help India win a World Cup. And yeah, I mean, I don't think anything is possible without madness, I remember knocking yesterday till 2:00 AM in my room, because be a younger self or be it now, I mean, you just have to keep the madness going to achieve something, but yeah, my only message to the younger self is that, I mean, just keep that madness alive because growing up, you're going to be called a World Cup winner,' she concluded.

/IANS