India’s recent victory in the final of the ICC ODI World Cup Women’s Championship against South Africa will open up whole new outlook for women’s cricket in India. Having faltered in the 2005 and 2017 World Cup finals, India also had to contend with the pressure of playing at home. They finally proved their worth in the third count. The semi-final victory was solely due to the determination of 25-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues and the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur. In the summit clash, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma rose to the occasion in a brilliant fashion. Importantly, Team India peaked at the right time, reserving its best for the all-important last stretch. The triumph will, of course, ignite a whole new era in the women’s game as the BCCI, the financial powerhouse of international cricket, will be further investing in their women players who they have already promoted to near equal pay with men, good infra facilities and a premier league that gave them a grand stage to perform on. It is only fitting that their conquest of world cricket appears to be only a first.
