Just like me the whole world would have woken up to the Indian women’s team face all over the news and social media and they do deserve the headlines after carrying the heart on their sleeves throughout the world cup finals and I am considering myself lucky for being able to watch Indian women’s team lifting its first ever ODI cup even though it was through my tiny phone screen.
I have been following women’s cricket for years witnessing them fight twice as hard to deserve equal pay, match coverage, recognition and most of all respect which comes without a question to the male cricketers. And what happened last night still feels like a dream.
The Indian team’s journey to the final was itself quite magical; they started off the campaign with two straight wins followed by three consecutive losses that made them reflect and react to their performances. They didn’t have it easy, the loss brought in trolls, hosting in home brought pressure and the thought of being too close so many times and not crossing the line haunted their memories but the girls took all that in and made it a reason why they need to win this world cup.
India lost the toss to South Africa and was asked to bat first. Smriti and Shefali opened the match and set the tone for the team. After being dropped from the team Shefali came back as a replacement for Pratika Rawal who injured her leg in the match against New Zealand. not easy for a 21-year-old to come in as a replacement and play the most important two matches but then again not every 21-year-old can be Shefali Verama. After being dismissed for just 10 in her first match against Aussie in the semi Shefali looked disastrous scoring 87 and taking two wickets. Deepthi Sharma was another one to hurt the proteas with her all-round performance by contributing 58 with the bat and 5 wickets with the ball. Everyone in the team played cameos to put up the total 298-7 which the south African failed to chase.
I don’t know about y’all, but the match brought tears to my eyes after I witnessed Harman catch the ball of the last wicket that sealed the victory for the team. For years that woman was on the losing side, having been through heartbreak in her past four appearances of the world cup until last night where she lifted the trophy of her dreams. Her journey is so beautiful, the same person who carried the team through disappointments and doubts was the one to close the story with that catch and just like that a decade of heartbreaks was cured.
Each of them on the team had to endure different struggles in order to be where they are today. Every player in the team has a story to tell, stories that show the battles fought on the other side of the popularity and this world cup showed that side of the players that we quite often don’t see on camera. Who would have even thought that the bubbly Jemi was battling anxiety while she happily danced on the field or that the Shefali Verma had to cut her hair short in order to play with the boys since there was no girls team in her hometown. Deepthi Sharma had to travel 22 km every day on train for practice and the fierce Radha Yadav we know today did not have means to go for practice during her childhood and later was noticed by Prafuk Naik who coached her for free. And like them the rest of the team carried different stories, stories of family struggles and unspoken sacrifices. Some trained on cracked pitches, some on village grounds, some played with borrowed equipment, some with broken bats and some had to juggle between school, household chores and cricket. All of them shared one thing in common: they refused to give up. They kept showing up after every rejection, after every “No, you’re a girl” and never let the situation or their gender decide their fate.
It’s not every day you get to see the world celebrate female cricketers and it makes me so happy that the world finally recognizes them. The same social media that is now praising their performance was so brutal to the team barely three weeks ago. Trolls, abuses and Kitchen jokes flooded the comment section of any posts related to the team. It wasn’t criticism, it was something so disrespectful it was mockery disguised as opinions. and that’s why last night felt different. As the women in blue lifted the trophy, the same people who once mocked them finally understood the girls were always good enough; it was the world that took long to realize.
This victory goes far beyond India’s trophy cabinet. It has changed the way the world views women’s cricket, and as someone who has cheered for the team through every heartbreak and doubt this win feels deeply personal. It was not just about the match; it was about every girl refusing to give up the dreams that people called unrealistic. For years every compliment the team received was a “female version” of male cricketers and forgot to realize all they team wanted to be, was themselves and yesterday’s victory gave them that.
The women in blue didn’t just lift their first icc world cup but won a generational belief and
Seeing Smriti and Harman hug in tears with a tri-color flag wrapped around them made me realize somewhere in a corner of India a little girl will not be afraid to dream a dream like theirs.