Deepti Sharma, the World Cup's leading wicket-taker who took a magnificent 5/39 in the final, is joined by teammates Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues in World Cup's Team of the Tournament.
Having retained the majority of their squad, MI will be the team to beat given their formidable batting, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals will be out to spoil their party.
On paper, Pakistan are no match for South Africa even though Fatima Sana's team did win an ODI in the bilateral series that served as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.
Veteran allrounder Marizanne Kapp excelled with both bat and ball, while skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus also smashed fine half-centuries as South Africa defeated Pakistan by 150 runs (DLS Method) in a rain-affected Women's World Cup match to go top of the table, in Colombo, on Tuesday.
In a night that will be etched in Indian cricket history, Rohit Sharma fought back tears as the women in blue conquered the world in front of a packed Navi Mumbai crowd on Sunday.
Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma's superb all-round showing powered India to a historic first-ever Women's ODI World Cup title after they outclassed South Africa by 52 runs in the final.
It was a merry evening at Mumbai's iconic Prithvi Theatre, which is celebrating its 47th year with a 17-day theatre festival.
As India chase history at home in Navi Mumbai, while Laura Wolvaardt's South Africa will look to script their own fairytale, by finally breaking their run of heartbreaks at ICC events.
The entire nation erupted in joy when captain Harmanpreet Kaur completed the decisive catch to dismiss Nadine de Klerk off Deepti's bowling in the 46th over.
The seasoned duo of Meg Lanning and Sophie Devine were also among the marquee picks. Giants bought Devine for Rs 2 crore, while UP Warriorz landed Lanning for Rs 1.90 crore.
Agra welcomes home hero Deepti Sharma with 10km roaring roadshow
Frustrating to lose wickets to part-timer; SA are doing right to make three finals: Wolvaardt
'A total of 19 players have registered in the highest base-price bracket of Rs.50 lakh, 11 players in the Rs. 40 lakh bracket, and 88 players in the Rs.30 lakh bracket.'
South Africa will be eager to turn consistent recent form into a title-winning run when they open their women's ODI World Cup campaign against traditional powerhouses England in Guwahati on Friday.
For India, the battle is no longer about proving skill or form, but about crossing the elusive final hurdle that has so often tripped them -- including in this very tournament.
Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Krishna on Monday lauded Deputy Superintendent of Police and international cricketer Deepti Sharma for her "exemplary and historic performance" in India's win at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 final.
WPL 2026 auction to be held on November 27 in New Delhi
She was adjudged the Player of the Tournament for her consistent all-round display throughout the showpiece event.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt scored a hundred for the ages before the seasoned Marizanne Kapp made the ball talk in good batting conditions to script a 125-run victory over England and enter their maiden Women's ODI Cup final, in Guwahati, on Wednesday.
South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt said that once their Women's World Cup contest against Sri Lanka was reduced to 20 overs a side, she treated it like a T20 game and came out to bat with the same mindset, in Colombo, on Friday.
From hitting the winning runs against Australia in the semifinal to taking the catch of in-form South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt in the title clash, Amanjot played her part in India's winning campaign.
Indian women's cricket head coach Amol Muzumdar revealed a heartwarming story about how the team 'manifested' their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi months before their historic World Cup win.
Wolvaardt, Tazmin fire South Africa to 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka in truncated game
Knockout games different than league, South Africa will start afresh against India: Wolvaardt
Smriti Mandhana dropped a rung to second but Jemimah Rodrigues scaled nine positions to be 10th in the latest ICC women's ODI rankings after India's title-winning World Cup performance.
Despite this, Bangladesh's inconsistent top order remains a significant concern. Skipper Nigar Sultana Joty, who also performs wicketkeeping duties, has struggled for runs, averaging just nine in the tournament.
Mandhana led the Indian charge at the top, and her partnerships with opening batter Pratika Rawal created quite a buzz in the showpiece event.
German double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, her management and local authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
Seventeen-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Karabo Meso on Wednesday earned her maiden call-up to South Africa's 15-member squad for the women's ODI World Cup starting later this month in India and Sri Lanka.
In the league stage, South Africa suffered two heavy defeats and their batting came apart against spin in both games.
Off-spinner Deepti bowled the 48th over, and De Klerk managed to find two boundaries off her before applying finishing touches to the chase, smashing pacer Amanjot Kaur for two sixes in the 49th over.
In what is seen as a U-turn, US President Donald Trump appeared to defend the H-1B visa programme to bring talent from across the world, saying a foreign investor cannot pull people off an unemployment line, who haven't worked in five years, and start making missiles.
India's top order did not take responsibility to bat well against South Africa, captain Harmanpreet Kaur said after her side lost by three wickets.
Indian professionals, including technology workers and physicians, are among the largest cohort of H-1B visa holders.
India have a mounting worry in the lack of runs so far from talismanic Smriti Mandhana, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and the energetic Jemimah Rodrigues.
The franchise chose to retain only former Under-19 World Cup winner Shweta Sehrawat as part of a fresh approach for the upcoming season.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will be playing an ODI World Cup final for the third time, having finished runners-up in 2005 and 2017 to Australia and England, respectively. This will be South Africa's maiden appearance in the final.
India won their maiden Women's World Cup title with a 52-run victory over South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
The US President said that companies have to bring people to "get those plants opened, we want you to do that, and we want those people to teach our people how to make computer chips and how to make other things."
Smriti Mandhana achieved a career-best rating of 828 in the ICC Women's ODI Rankings for Batters.
