Neetu David, the chief selector who picked India’s victorious World Cup squad, reckons the team’s senior players — skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues — played a major role in keeping the team together despite trials and tribulations during tournament and even in the build-up to it.

India had suffered three defeats in the group stage — to Australia, England and South Africa — but they managed to bounce back and go the distance, and the reason behind that was the dressing room atmosphere created by the senior players, along with head coach Amol Muzumdar, says David. “This team was criticised a lot. But the senior players played a major role in keeping the unit together,” she said.