Amol Muzumdar, India's head coach, challenged his squad to tune out the outside noise and craft their own tale ahead of the Women's World Cup final versus South Africa on Sunday at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
In the 2007 film, the character Kabir Khan encouraged the Indian women's hockey team, before a World Cup final, to play the game of their lives for the next "70 minutes." Muzumdar sent a similar warning to India's women's cricket team.
Muzumdar revealed that he had shared a special message with the team ahead of the World Cup final. Muzumdar's powerful speech aimed to keep the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team in a bubble that blocked out outside noise, allowing them to make history by collecting the coveted trophy.
"Seven hours we cut out all the noise. We cut them out of our lives; we create our own bubble here. Seven hours-create our own bubble-and we step into it, and we finish that, and we write our own story. No more stories from the outside. We write our own story. You will write your own story. Let's stay in that bubble for the next seven hours. Let's create history," Muzumdar said told ICC, as quoted by news agency ANI.
"Absolutely proud. I don't know-it has not yet sunk in. Unbelievable achievement, and they deserve every credit and everything that will follow from here. They have worked terribly hard. They have made every Indian proud," Muzumdar said after the win.
"We did not look at those losses as losses-we looked at them as matches we couldn't get over the line. We dominated the majority of those games and just thought there were some hiccups. We stayed alive in the tournament, and here we are, as world champions. I know for a fact that they have worked extremely hard for this, and it is a watershed moment for Indian cricket," he added, reflecting on the journey.
