India’s women’s cricket team continues to make history at the moment. This incredible accomplishment hit home with fans, former players and coaches of every team. As happy as this win in the under Harmanpreet Kaur’s leadership, this victory marks an immense personal success for the current players. Beyond the trophies, it realises the long-held dreams of the trailblazers such as former coach Sudha Shah, who set the stage for women’s cricket in India. The team mobilized—nobody left this victory to chance—and dug in to win this monumental victory. Their journey is a testament to resilience, dedication, and the unwavering support of an entire nation.
The Indian team won the title following a dominating performance for the entire tournament, finishing with an eye-popping final. History didn’t say enough about the challenges Kaur and her players had to overcome. They carried the weight of history’s past failures, particularly that heartbreaking loss in the 2017 final. Yet their resolve to make it work was greater than any past failure.
A Historic Shift in Women’s Cricket
Sudha Shah, who guided the Indian team to the final in 2005, views the current team’s success as a significant turning point for women’s cricket in India. She remembers a period when the women’s game was wildly undercovered.
“At that time, nobody in India even knew the Women’s World Cup was happening in South Africa,” – Sudha Shah
Shah underlines what this victory represents, that it’s more about the trophy. It represents everything we want America to be – full of hope, possibility, and inspiration for future generations. She hopes that this team’s success will encourage more girls to take up cricket. This seminal change would usher in more facilities, higher pay, and more respect for women athletes.
They have stronger facilities, higher pay, more respect — better is the new normal. Nothing succeeds like success,” Shah stated.
Sports journalist and cricket enthusiast Vijay Lokapally expressed the same thought. He views women’s cricket developing to this extent as a monumental change in the landscape of the sport within his country.
“This team’s biggest strength was how they understood their potential, and a coach like Amol Muzumdar helped them believe in it,” – Vijay Lokapally
Lokapally further highlighted how different the coverage of women’s cricket was in the past compared to now.
“There wasn’t even a proper press box. Players knew the handful of reporters by name. But hats off to them, they kept going, even when male colleagues refrained from covering women’s cricket,” – Vijay Lokapally
The Role of Resilience and Preparation
Resilience long has been an underlying current for this crew’s defining theme. Shubhangi Kulkarni praised their fearless game all tournament long.
“They lost three matches in a row, faced harsh criticism online, but they held their nerves and bounced back like true champions,” – Shubhangi Kulkarni
Australia’s coach Amol Muzumdar played an instrumental role in shaping this gritty mindset. He took the team through two years of intense conditioning, developing skill as well as mental toughness in the squad. His experience as a former player who scored over 11,000 first-class runs without representing India allowed him to connect with his players on a deeper level.
Muzumdar’s efforts bore fruit as players like Jemimah Rodrigues and debutant Shree Charani delivered outstanding performances when it mattered most. Rodrigues played a key knock against Australia in the semifinal which saw India qualifying for their first-ever final clash.
A Nation United in Celebration
That win has made the entire Indian women’s cricket team household names across the country. Their fans greeted that victory like it was their own, a reminder of just how powerful cricket can be to millions. Harmanpreet Kaur expressed this sentiment beautifully.
“Some dreams are shared by a billion people. That’s why cricket is everyone’s game,” – Harmanpreet Kaur
In 2017, Kaur brought the pain of that final loss with her to provide inspiration for this year’s victory. Clearly, in her mind, it was their responsibility to learn from what happened and focus all that energy into actually accomplishing something and make it a success.
“We know how it feels to lose,” – Harmanpreet Kaur
“But we are looking forward to how it feels to win,” – Harmanpreet Kaur
This victory doesn’t just belong to those 15 women in blue. It also belonged to an entire people—of one nation, in fact—that had the audacity to dream with them. Tremendous changes are being brought about by entities such as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Air India and Indian Railways. Their patronage has done wonders to raise the profile of women’s cricket in India.
Yet, as they wave their own tricolor, celebrating this recent historic accomplishment, many feel that this is only the start of what lies ahead for Indian women’s cricket. The trailblazing work of pioneers such as Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami still inform and inspire generations of future female cricketers.
