The Indian women's cricket team received the 'Sports Performance Of The Year' award at the NDTV Indian Of The Year 2024 award ceremony held in New Delhi on Saturday. The team was represented by Shreyanka Patil, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav. They were presented the award by tennis icon Sania Mirza. Shreyanka spoke about the change that women's cricket has seen in India over the past few years and thanked the BCCI for their support when it comes to opportunities and finances.
"Firstly thank you NDTV for having us here and presenting this wonderful award. Means a lot. To answer this question, I think it's changed thoroughly over the past few years. Women's cricketers are also given preference for being financially and it is also opportunity for us. It's been amazing and thank you BCCI for giving us an opportunity and also giving us financial support," Shreyanka said.
Shreyanka was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side that won the recently concluded Women's Premier League (WPL) title after defeating Delhi Capitals in the final. This was the first time that a RCB side (men's or women's) won a title and Shreyanka had a special message for Virat Kohli and Co for their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign.
"I mean we were all waiting for this cup for past 16 years and we finally did it but I think the men's team are doing really great. They're working really hard for that trophy and we can all see that that they're really working hard and really wanting to do well and get the trophy home. I think they'll really do it very soon and good luck for them and thank you so much," the youngster said.