The journey of belief: How India's women kept the fire burning

This was a dream that had been building for 112 years. In 1913, when Australia-born schoolteacher Anne Kelleve made cricket compulsory for girls at the Baker Memorial School in Kottayam, Kerala, even Kelleve wouldn’t have imagined that over a century later, the Indian women’s cricket team would defeat the team from her country of birth to storm into a dream final.

It’s not that India hasn’t entered the final of the women’s cricket World Cup before, but the 2025 edition will go down in history as a tournament in which selfdoubt gave way to conviction, talent met with match-winning performances and dreamers turned winners. When playing a World Cup at home, a title triumph was never going to be the absolute measure of Harmanpreet Kaur and her team’s success.


It was about what they offered to awaken a nation’s interest in women’s cricket, which has grown exponentially over the past decade, but remains seasonal. The Women’s Premier League created a new wave and saw the emergence of stars, yet playing the sport in India is still a fight, not a given.

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Before Sunday, India had played two finals — one in 2005 and another in 2017 — enduring heartbreaks and returning home as bridesmaids. What made the 2025 title contest against South Africa special for the team was that they fought the battle at home, amidst a packed stadium, where the chant “India! India!” resonated across Navi Mumbai; AR Rahman’s blockbuster Jai Ho, Bollywood’s contribution, and a new-age sports anthem, Chak De! India gave people goosebumps.

Sunday night was also a tribute to the women and a few men who backed and believed in their dream of cricket not being merely a gentleman’s game.


While the journey of women’s cricket has traversed the country and is filled with stories of struggles and hardships, it’s hard not to remember that it was in Bombay that organised women’s cricket took shape. It was fitting that the finale was held in the city.

Aloo Bamjee, a member of the Cricket Club of India, formed the first ladies’ cricket team, called Albees, a derivation of her name.

Four years later, the Women’s Cricket Association of India was founded in Lucknow with Mahendra Kumar Sharma as the founding secretary.


In 1973, the first National championship was hosted in Lucknow, with three teams, Bombay, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Extra players from the two visiting teams were included in the hosts’ line-up, since UP were unable to summon their own XI.

Played at a college ground, it drew a sizeable crowd, mostly because of curiosity about how women played cricket or what they wore.

“That era was ‘sharing is caring’ in a true sense, because we stayed in marriage halls sometimes, but mostly vacant classrooms in schools. We’ve had cockroaches and rats as fellow occupants. Most had just one pair of whites and a limited stock of bats rotated among players. Yet, nobody complained, because we played cricket out of sheer love for it,” recalled Shantha, the former India captain and administrator.

In 1978, India made their debut as a team and hosts in the World Cup. It required more than just bravado to be able to pull off the event with four teams – Australia, England and New Zealand besides the hosts. It also marked India’s maiden foray into One-Day Internationals. The organisers stretched their limits to convince people to support the event financially and even banked on gate collection to pay the players.


Over the years, Indian women’s cricket’s narrative has changed beyond recognition. Shantha is quick to point out that she wouldn’t trade her playing days for anything. Shantha, along with Diana Edulji, Shubhangi Kulkarni and Sudha Shah were the pathbreakers.

“People have told me we should have played in this era, but I’ve never felt that way. Yes, I would have made some extra money, but you can’t weigh everything in terms of money. I believe we, the batch of the 1970s, were the lucky ones. We were the chosen ones to lay a foundation. I take a lot of pride in saying I belong to a generation that laid the foundation for women’s cricket in this country.”

The merger with BCCI in 2006 was a turning point in many ways, although the marriage was forced upon BCCI by the ICC. For the first time, a match fee of Rs 2,500 was earmarked for women’s ODIs. Nondescript grounds made way for better venues, dormitory accommodations made way for hotel rooms, reserved AC trains and flights replaced unreserved train journeys. Two years later, the women cricketers finally had access to the National Cricket Academy.


“The merger gave many of us a sense of financial security. It was the first time that we were getting paid to play cricket,” pointed out former Indian captain Mamatha Maben But cricket-wise, despite the resources, women did suffer under the BCCI, because there was a phase when it was seen more as a liability fostered upon the governing body. But eventually, the acceptance came on the sheer strength of performances.

The 1997 World Cup at home turned things around for Indian women’s cricket, despite their semifinal loss to Australia. The same result followed in the next edition in 2000 and then came the landmark title contest in 2005, which was a defining phase for women’s cricket in the country. Their first final under a young Mithali Raj . The 98-run loss was crushing in terms of a result but uplifting when you considered progress.

By the time Mithali and Co. travelled to England for the 2017 World Cup, they were not the underdogs or alsorans; instead, they were contenders. In front of 26,500 people at the Lord’s, India fell agonisingly short, losing by nine runs to England.

It wasn’t seen as a defeat by most because in that heartbreaking moment, India won hearts, accolades and acceptance. Youngsters like Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy became household names. It was the beginning of the continuity of today, where many players like Jemimah Rodrigues are heroes for millions.