Opinion India defy the odds with storied run in Women’s World Cup
A month of girl-power has perhaps done more to end the mansplaining of cricket, and raise respect for the women’s game than anything else in recent years. The girls have come far that they would not only gel together well but beat expectations to reach the final and almost win the World Cup.
Harmanpreet Kaur-captained India lead the T20 series 2-0. (Source: Reuters file) 
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Harmanpreet Kaur smashed an unbeaten 171 against Australia in the semifinal. (Source: Reuters)
Sport can often be cruel. But the panic in the Indian camp towards the last overs shouldn’t mar the spectacular month that preceded the match. A month of girl-power has perhaps done more to end the mansplaining of cricket, and raise respect for the women’s game than anything else in recent years. “Everybody (in India) would look up to women cricketers and there will be a different perspective when they watch women’s cricket,” Mithali Raj, the Indian captain, said at the end of it all — a sentiment that can’t be disputed.
India’s path to the final in the tournament has already caught the public imagination but it’s the years that led to this campaign that we have to remember. A young Harmanpreet Kaur, denied a job in police with a taunt, “you aren’t Harbhajan Singh for us to give you a job”. Or a Punam Raut, who nearly dragged India home with a fabulously paced knock before cramps set in and who grew up in Mumbai chawls — her father, a car driver who years ago was so moved by the look in her eyes, that he took her to an important cricket trial a day after he lost his mother. Or a young Jhulan Goswami travelling at 5.30 am for two hours by train to play cricket. And who would have missed a vital selection trial if not for her mother pushing a tired kid to follow through on her commitment and dreams.
Or Deepti Sharma, the 19-year old who showed a cool head to keep India alive in the tense final overs. As a kid, after relentless badgering, her father took her to the cricket academy where her brother trained. A ball would accidentally roll towards her, standing by the boundary, and a nonchalant return from her found it clattering the stumps, piquing the curiosity of the coaches, and thus beginning the career of India’s most promising all-rounder.
And Mithali, of course. Trained by an obsessed coach who was sure she would become an India player. Mithali shelved her dancing dreams — her first love was Bharatanatyam — to follow the dreams of her parents. Her coach Sampath died in a road accident before she played for India but she ensured his dream turned into reality.
For the first time, myths started to develop around the players. A nation wanted to know what book Mithali was reading before batting. They wanted to know whether Goswami got her favourite Chinese food at the team hotel. They wondered whether Harmanpreet still only got sandwiches — which she hates — for breakfast in England. Such a pursuit of trivia about sportstars happens only when a genuine interest kicks in. Goswami was a ball-girl in the 1997 world cup final in Eden Gardens where she was inspired seeing the likes of Belinda Clarke. Undoubtedly, she would have inspired the next generation of girls with her skills in this World Cup. Who can forget her ball of the tournament, the one that came in and whipped away like a crack of doom to peg back the off stump of the Australian opener in the semis. Or the three crucial strikes in the final, when she tilted the match India’s way by producing some magic on a tired pitch. Who can forget Harmanpreet Kaur’s daredevilry in the semis, where she smoked the ball around to produce India’s greatest World Cup knock in a knockout game.
The girls have come far, and much of their rise is due to this democratisation of the game. The band of girls would not only gel together well, but beat expectations to reach the final and almost win the World Cup.
Try telling that as a consolation to the players though. It was a game they should have won and nearly did. But with pressure ratcheting up, India panicked, and let the world cup slip away.
When the final wicket fell, Mithali, who would later be so composed at the post-match presentation, looked into the distance, lost in utter gloom. Beside her, the bespectacled Goswami, who more than most had pushed India to a match-winning position with a spectacular bowling performance, looked dazed. Some of the youngsters around them buried their heads in their hands but they would at least get more chances in the future — Mithali and Goswami won’t as this was their last World Cup. The Indian women met with heartbreak in the end, but by then they had won a billion hearts.
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