Sophie Molineux has been hailed as an inspirational leader after guiding Australia back to the World Cup winners' circle, but admits to moments when she feared her national team captaincy wouldn't work out.

Following her side's seven-wicket trouncing of England in the T20 World Cup final at Lord's on Sunday (Monday AEST), the selectors' choice of Molineux to take over one of the world's most successful sports teams after Alyssa Healy's retirement was being hailed as inspired.

But the popular 28-year-old Molineux admitted it wasn't just outsiders who were critical of the often injury-hit spinning allrounder being put in charge.

She even began to harbour doubts herself when back trouble flared up early in 2026 and she could only play a limited part of series against India and West Indies, with some critics suggesting the captain's armband was protecting her from being dropped.

Asked if she was satisfied about proving all those early doubts wrong, she responded matter-of-fact: "Yep."

But to start with, she did have her own doubts too.

"It's been a whirlwind,'' Molineux said.

"When I took over, I was a bit messy at the start, to be fair. Yeah, captaining a couple of games and getting injured - shock.

"When I did miss those games at the start of the summer after just being announced captain, it probably made me feel like it might not work out.

"I suppose there were a few doubts internally, there were a few doubts externally. But what maybe I've learnt over my journey so far is that you just have to keep believing. And I'm incredibly lucky that people believed in me.

"And I suppose I believe in this team and this group more than anything as well. So, yeah, it's really satisfying."

Those concerns feel a long time ago now. In England, Australia won all seven matches as well as their warm-up games, and Molineux played a full part, with her teammates raving about her influence in creating a close-knit unit which was, according to Ellyse Perry, "a joy to be part of".

"A lot is down to our skipper who has done a brilliant job to set us up physically and mentally," said star batter Phoebe Litchfield.

Australia were completely dominant during their month-long campaign, with barely a weakness to be seen - and Molineux thinks it's only the beginning.

"We definitely will celebrate this, but it rolls on pretty quick after this, and we don't think we've reached any ceilings yet," she said.

"This team has got generational talent, from young girls like Lucy Hamilton right to the end of the experience spectrum with Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney.

"We're in this really beautiful spot where it's shared and everyone wants to play for each other and commit fully to how we want to play. So yeah, long may that live ... I hope it becomes one of the great sides."