'You may not have won the final but you've won 1.25 billion Indian hearts'

Don't feel burdened by World Cup defeat: PM to Women's cricket team

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly radio show, has advised the Indian women's cricket team not to feel burdened by the World Cup final defeat since they had backing of the nation.

India ended runner-up at the prestigious ICC event after losing the final to England by nine runs.

Their unexpected performance in the World Cup followed a host of felicitations after the team's arrival and the PM too hosted the entire squad at his residence.

"I felt happy talking to them, but I had a feeling that they felt burdened by the fact that they could not win the World Cup. This stress, this tension was evident on their faces also," Modi recalled during his Mann Ki Baat address.

"I said, ‘Look, this is the age of the media. So expectations get hyped up to such an extent that if corresponding success is not achieved, these turn into despair and even resentment’."

Modi said India chose to praise the women cricketers instead of criticising them for their defeat in the final.

"But it happened for the first time that when our daughters did not succeed in winning the World Cup, the hundred and twenty-five million people took this defeat on their own shoulders, never letting the burden weigh down these daughters of ours.

"Not only this, they lauded them and showered them with high praise for their brilliant performance. I view this as a healthy and pleasant change and I told these daughters that only they were blessed with such good fortune, and hence they should banish any thought of not having been successful. You may not have won the final match but you have won the hearts of 1.25 billion Indians," he said.