A day for the ages took place in Navi Mumbai, as India’s women’s cricket team took home the first ICC Women’s World Cup trophy with a 52-run victory over South Africa. The noise of the crowd, tears in the players’ eyes, tricolour flags being waved – it’s all part of a powerful moment in Indian sport, one some will see as one long overdue, but in the end, it’s given the chance to unfold as it should. It wasn’t just a matter of who won; it was the arrival of women’s cricket in India, at long last, all the recognition, respect and rhythm it had earned long ago.
For many years, women cricketers in India have exhibited quiet resilience, despite limited visibility, empty stadiums, and no money. In a country that reveres cricket, it could be that we forgot half of our cricketers. There is less awareness of how much of that victory was built on determination, the persistence of training to become what they are today, the endless hours spent practicing in the absence of publicity, the tenacity to train in an underfunded academy and share in the disappointment of the experience, or through pure hard work with very little to show through performance in front of society. When the men’s team lost, it was a national debate. When the women’s team won, it was more covert and lighter. These details may be insignificant in the present moment, but the spirit of those players never faltered, nor did their sacrifice.
The World Cup triumph could have easily occurred sooner. From Mithali Raj’s elegance to Jhulan Goswami’s passion, and from Harmanpreet Kaur’s explosiveness to Smriti Mandhana’s fluidity, the Women’s variable has long had the ability to reign on the Global stage. It was the timing and faith of the women game that were missing. For years, there were inconsistencies with the infrastructure, sponsorships, and even media. The women’s game was simply waiting for an ecosystem to believe in it. Once there was an ecosystem that began to build and support them, it was then the results began to follow.
The players who hoisted the trophy did so on the shoulders of others who came prior, who they buried in the shadows so that they can shine. This wasn’t a moment of glory that happened within the blink of an eye; this was a decade of willpower and commitment having its moment. It is easy to say this was India winning the World Cup moment; it was harder to see the years of sacrifices made, the years of barriers shattered, and the years of battles lost to ultimately reach that moment of glory. The truth is that this moment could have happened much earlier, if only they nation took the time to look closer, listened, and invested equally.
Still, there is something so beautifully poetic about it happening now. In 2025, as Indian sport finally really pushes the socio-political limits of what greatness means in sport beyond gender, this victory comes with greater aesthetic weight. It demonstrates the breadth of how change behaves; slowly and steadily, when belief intersects with opportunity. What makes this monumental achievement so monumental isn’t just the cup – it’s the quiescent revolution it signifies: that success does not yield exponential acceleration; rather, success blooms away; silently; over time; until one day, the world is ready to notice.
India’s victory stems not only from a cup-winning drought but a beginning of an era. The women didn’t only achieve personal victory; they redefined simply what is possible for every girl sitting with a bat, banging it against the road in a dusty lane, dreaming of something bigger. Years ago, this could have been the narrative. This morning, it is, and it is brilliantly timed and, perfectly timed to be recognized publicly, because the world is watching.
