The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) presented a cheque of ₹5 lakh to Indian women’s cricket team skipper, Mithali Raj, at a felicitation ceremony at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday. The function was organised to honour the team’s dream run in the recently concluded World Cup in England.
Dr. G. Vivekanand, president of HCA, Justice G.V. Seetapathy (administrator), G Vinod (former president) and D.S. Chalapathi (former secretary) were present on the occasion. Vivekanand promised expansion of women’s cricket in the state.
“I take this opportunity to assure Mithali and all women cricketers, who assembled here, that HCA would do everything for the growth of women’s cricket,” he said.
Justice Seetapathy said that Mithali’s team might have lost the World Cup final (to England) but won the hearts of millions of fans. “They captured the imagination of the entire nation, which normally the men’s cricket team does,” he reasoned.
Replying to the felicitations, Mithali said she was overwhelmed with the honour and thanked the HCA for being supportive by extending all the practice facilities over the years. “I see many familiar faces of fellow cricketers here, some of them are my seniors and some, my teammates at different levels. I am grateful to all these wonderful people who helped me grow up as a cricketer,” she said.
"I sincerely hope that there will be more Hyderabadis in the Indian team as I am feeling lonely out there. I am sure this great city will produce champion cricketers, given the kind of infrastructure and facilities available now,” she added.
Mithali’s coach R.S.R. Murthy and the Indian team video analyst Aarti Nalge were also honoured.
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