Indian women cricketers return home to an empty airport without fans cheering

The agony that could be seen in the dressing room of the Indian women's cricket team on Sunday after their defeat in the World T20 Cup Final was evident. Their dream run had stalled on that D-Day, however, there were plenty of positive takeaways to bask upon.

Disappointment in the final cannot rule out what the girls have achieved. But it seems nobody bats an eye about the girls making it to the final for the first time. As India returned home on Tuesday, the players were barely given heroes' welcome. Images of captain Harmanpreet Kaur and all-rounder Veda Krishnamurthy surfaced on Twitter from the Mumbai International Airport, who still looked pale and agonised by their loss. No crowd had hoarded to cheer for their stars at the airport gates, which would have been the ideal way to welcome Harmanpreet and co.

What if you achieve something big for the first time in history, you get applauded. But i can't see any welcome here. I think the disappointment on the players face is much greater today than the defeat in final. I m with the team #WeAreWithYouTeam ??

pc- ig (tag visible) @BCCI pic.twitter.com/4NB02neUYp

— Kp sinha #VK79 (@kpsinha7) March 10, 2020

Would this have been the case if the men's cricket team returned home marking similar achievements? Surprisingly, none of the state governments has also announced any cash prize or other awards for any of the members of the team yet. Haryana lass Shafali Verma, who had an outstanding run in the tournament till the final, has not been promised any award yet by the state Chief Minister, who usually misses no opportunity to announce prize money for their players.

As Indian women's team returns in a sombre mood, they prepare for a lot of introspection and analysis on what went wrong. However, breathing in the air of disappointment, it must not be forgotten that they achieved no mean feat.