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New Delhi: India's maiden ODI World Cup victory could see significant growth of women's cricket in the country, says former national team skipper Shantha Rangaswamy.
India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in Navi Mumbai on Sunday to lift their first trophy after years of disappointment and heartbreaks.
Rangaswamy lauded BCCI's outgoing chief selector Neetu David and her team for picking a squad worthy of winning the global event.
"10 years down the line, you would see the massive impact of this win. This will inspire millions to take up the sport," she told PTI.
Though happy, Rangaswamy noted India needed to improve their bowling unit to become as dominant as seven-time champions Australia.
India chased down a score of 338 runs to beat Australia in the semi-finals.
"In our days batting used to be the weaker link. Now batting has a settled look but bowling is a concern. Fielding too can be a lot better.
"Australia lost only because they did not have a good bowling attack. I would say Pakistan and Bangladesh had better bowling attacks. The batters did the job for us."
Rangaswamy also felt that Harmanpreet Kaur should pass the baton of captaincy to Smriti Mandhana as it is overdue.
Relinquishing captaincy would help the 36-year-old Harmanpreet, who remains the team's star batter and top fielder.
"It's overdue. Because Harman as a batter and a fielder is brilliant. Yes. But tactically, she can fumble at times. I feel she can contribute more if she's without the burden of captaincy," she said.
"See, when it comes after a success like this (World Cup win), it will not be taken well but in the interest of Indian cricket and in Harman's own interest, I think she can contribute much more as a batter without the burden of captaincy.
"She still has three-four years of big-time cricket left. Not being captain would allow her to do that. Smriti should be made captain across formats. You need to plan for future World Cups also," Rangaswamy added.
