Maharashtra CM announces cash prize of Rs. 50 lakh for Punam Raut, Mona Meshram and Smriti Mandhana

What’s the story?

After felicitations at the national level by the sports minister Vijay Goel and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is now time for state governments to honour the girls who represented them in the World Cup squad. Devendra Fadnavis, CM of Maharashtra, announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh each for the five Maharashtra members of the Indian women's team that emerged as the runners-up of the quadrennial event.

Three of the five members are cricketers Smriti Mandhana, Mona Meshram and Punam Raut. While other two are the team manager and team physiotherapist – Trupti Bhattacharya and Rashmi Pawar.

"Their performance was watched with much excitement by the entire country, they have made us proud," said Fadnavis.

In case you didn’t know...

The England Team beat India by 9 runs in the finals at Lord’s to snatch away India’s best chance to lift their maiden World Cup title. While Smriti Mandhana was the hero of the first two games of the tournament, Punam Raut performed consistently well throughout and was the second highest run-scorer for India after skipper Mithali Raj.

The heart of the matter

The team met Fadnavis at his office and when the Chief Minister was asked about new houses for the girls, he pointed out that the housing scheme for sportsperson is still a matter of debate in the High Court and the state would be able to announce new houses for them only after approval from the court. The MCA has also given them membership of MCA-BKC ground facility.

Earlier, the Cricket Association of Bengal announced a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh for Jhulan Goswami, while the Telangana government announced a cash prize of Rs. 1 crore and a house plot for Mithali Raj.

This was the second time when the women in blue made it to the finals of the event, the first time being in 2005 when they lost to Australia. Mithali is the highest run-scorer in women’s ODIs while Jhulan is the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs.

Extra cover: An Open Letter To Mithali Raj

What’s next?

The five women will be felicitated in Mumbai on August 13. As for now, no schedule has been released for their upcoming fixtures.

Author’s take

For all that the girls have done for the country after toiling hard for years, the High Court should approve housing scheme for sportspersons, and the BCCI should start promoting the sport at the grassroots level.