On a thrilling night at the DY Patel Stadium, after enduring the setbacks and pain of losing the 2005 and 2017 finals, the Indian women’s cricket team’s love for cricket was finally highlighted. All the women who played those matches can now claim to have won the World Cup for India too, becoming someone in India’s sporting history.
PT Usha leapt into India’s consciousness at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, an overnight metaphor for someone who could run fast. And who knows, some members of this women’s team will now be top contenders for the Los Angeles T20 Olympics gold medal in 2028, continuing this story.
When Jemima Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur completed that memorable chase against Australia, no Indian team had ever chased 300-plus against the green and gold juggernaut in an ICC knockout tournament before, and the Indian women’s athlete had already broken the shackles.
Usha was also thin, but never weak. The phrase “PT Usha jaisa bhaagti hai” has seeped into the Hindi term. Jimmy and Amanjot, who are only 5 feet 2, are not tall either, but the petite women have lifted an entire nation from the shackles of the heavy losses against Australia that have been imprinted on the Indian psyche. The World Cup win has catapulted them into a stratosphere occupied only by Indian cricket.
Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal were pioneers of the racket sport, speaking with confidence, hitting the forehand and hitting a powerful shot with searing power. PV Sindhu went further and won big medals – Olympic and World Championship medals. Karnam Malleswari, Manu Bhaker, Sakshi Malik, Vignesh Phogat, Deepa Karmakar, Dipika Kumari and Rani Rampal took their sports to the next level, and Mirabai Chanu literally lifted more than four times her body weight, astonishing the country.
But what Harman’s team achieved in that World Cup was to take the country’s most passionately followed sport and the immunity of half the country’s population to the glory that cricket passionately brings – to eight-figure endorsements, packed arenas, and the vociferous loyalties of seas of blue shirts and stardom monopolized by men.
Those like Mithali Raj and Gohlan Goswami, a hero to almost every member of the team now, have tried in the past, but failed, as the madness fades.
Not that it should have been a pre-condition to support any Indian athlete. But the World Cup, which concluded with wins over Australia and South Africa, was necessary to control that eccentric religious hypnosis that has made everyone from a security guard to a corporate CEO equally smitten. As cricket spreads across India’s sporting horizons, expect it to spread to even the smallest towns and villages, inspired by what this generation of international players achieved tonight.
Truly patriotic
In fact, this Indian team is based on unconventional centers – Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, coastal Andhra, and quiet areas like Moga, Siliguri and Sangli. The inception of the Women’s Super League gave rise to the state T20 leagues, and the Chambal district even boasts of a team in the MP League. Himachal has had a dedicated women’s academy for a few years, and U-19 World Cup winner Sri Sharani comes from the eastern Andhra belt where parents see sports as a legitimate money-making career, even before academics.
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Equal match fees for women and access to premium performance facilities mean that the bedrock of support is available to enhance performance. Trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, nutritionists, golf coaches and psychologists now work with the state’s top teams as well.
equal
Match fees and elite facilities are now available to women
Economic equality
8 figure endorsement deals
Full arena revenue
The potential for stardom was unlocked
Elite infrastructure
Professional coaches and trainers
Nutritionists and psychologists
Access to performance facilities
Cultural transformation
Sailor blue shirts support
Australia’s top-tier competition
Social Media Choice Discussions
Evolving fan base
Men are embracing the women’s game
The presence of working class families
It is watched by billions nationwide
Indian Express InfoGenIE
The Indian women’s team raised hopes in 2005 and 2017, losing twice in the finals. But the finals curse needed to be broken. While most state association-owned stadiums are busy hosting Ranji Trophy matches, the privately owned DY Patel Stadium in Navi Mumbai, which offers a fan experience free of hype, has emerged over the past few years as a quiet ally of the women’s game. It is not the easiest stadium to move to, but the fans, many thousands from working-class families, diligently traveled there to lend their decibels to the Indian team. While a World Cup win automatically opens the door to a female fanbase, the men showed no bias last week in the warm-up for the slightly slower women’s match.
Indian sportswomen, who have so far been trapped even in progressive narratives that claim women do extraordinary things despite being women, are now eligible for inclusion as a competitive cricket team, with all the trimmings; It features high-level competition with Australia, a rapidly growing depth of talent, and constant selection discussions on social media. And young boys growing up watch on a daily basis as girls grow up to fight the same battles as them, hitting the same par sixes that break the lenses of photographers and take stunning shots, as the Indians continue to win the World Cup with gusto.
Bollywood wrote fantasy novels where women had to dress up as men just to play a good game of cricket. Chuck Dee movie! India dreamed up a scenario where an Indian team defeated Australia in a hockey final, giving Indian sports its unofficial anthem. India’s women are now living the dream, watching billions and inspiring generations of women to triumph.
This Women’s World Cup win completes Indian cricket.
(tags for translation) India
