Kohli, Rohit hail India’s U19 T20 women WC win

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma led tributes on Sunday to India’s Under-19 women’s team after their Twenty20 World Cup triumph in South Africa, hailing victory as a “special moment”.

India, led by rising star Shafali Verma, hammered England by seven wickets in the final of the inaugural tournament in Potchefstroom.

Titas Sadhu, 18, led the bowling to dismiss England for 68, a total the batters overhauled with six overs to spare and hand England their first loss in the tournament.

“Big congratulations to the U-19 girls cricket team for winning the World Cup. Well done on making the nation proud,” Rohit, senior men’s skipper, tweeted.

Kohli called the win a "special moment".

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a cash prize of more than $600,000 and invited the squad to witness the third and final T20 men’s match between India and New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

"Women’s Cricket in India is on the upswing and the World Cup triumph has taken the stature of women’s cricket several notches higher," BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote on Twitter.

"This is surely a path-breaking year."

The victory comes ahead of the inaugural women’s Indian Premier League scheduled in March.

BCCI recently earned $572.5 million as it announced the winners of bids to own five WIPL teams.