Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of the ODI World Cup-winning team, comes from Moga, Punjab, the daughter of a volleyball player who became a court clerk. Smriti Mandhana, who effortlessly transformed from a precocious teenage prodigy to a reliable match-winner, hails from Sangli, Maharashtra, where her father once played district-level cricket.
The player of the tournament, Deepti Sharma, comes from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and her brother gave up his fast bowling dreams to train her. And from Rohtak, Haryana, comes Shafali Verma, the child of destiny, who once disguised herself as a boy to escape the ridicule of the neighbours, and who gave a magical performance on the most important night of her career.
They are not alone. Draw a map of where India’s women’s world champions come from and it will rarely pass through metros or big cities. Instead, it will take you to Moga and Rohtak, Sangli and Siliguri (West Bengal), Golaghat (Assam) and Ghuwara (Madhya Pradesh). It will be a far cry from cricket’s superpowers, but in many ways it will pass through the fields, terraces, courtyards and backyards of India women’s cricket, its real nursery.
This requires a country.
Standing firmly behind them, are the fathers who made bats for their daughters with their own hands, the single mothers who raised them all on their own, and the brothers who traded their futures for their sisters’ prospects – all of whom are ultimately weathering the storm of patriarchal condemnation and structural barriers that often create a gap between promise and performance for women in sports, not just in India.
Because it requires a family.
And together, this group of women from far-flung corners of India helped create history by triumphing over South Africa in the ODI World Cup final at midnight on Sunday. Their 52-run victory – and Kaur’s running-back catch that sealed the win – emulated the Indian men’s team’s fairy-tale win at the 1983 World Cup (and captain Kapil Dev’s catch of Vivian Richards) and would be a seminal moment, inspiring a new generation of women to pick up bat and ball.
This requires a special team.
new centers of influence
At the center of India’s cricket world geography are Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, which have long been considered centers of power, infrastructure and access. At one time, half the men’s team came from Bombay, and the other half from Madras and Bangalore (as the three cities were once called).
Today, the story has changed in men’s cricket. Players may now live in big cities, and represent them in the Indian Premier League, but many players were born and raised in small towns in India, and often in less affluent households. Kaur’s team is no different. Of the 16-member team, 11 are from small towns.
In Rohtak, Sanjeev Verma ran a small jewelery shop, but his biggest investment was not gold. Neighbors made fun of a girl for letting her play with boys. He smiled during this, while Shafali kept hitting sixes in his courtyard. Even as her own health deteriorated last year, her words powered Shafali through one of her biggest personal and professional challenges. She was not originally a part of the team, but had to play the semi-finals and final due to an injury to teammate Pratika Raval.
In Golaghat, Assam, Uma Chhetri followed her elder siblings in learning cricket with a stick and a potato – her first bat and ball. There was no playground behind his house, only a dirt path.
Kranti Gaur learned cricket accidentally in Ghuwara. She was on a field where one team was short of one player. After all, he practiced on dry and rough ground in his village. Now, big screens have been installed in those grounds for the villagers to watch their local girl lead the pace attack.
Rajeev Bilthare, her coach at the SAI Cricket Academy, said, “She came in worn-out clothes. Her family had nothing. I didn’t charge her any fees.”
foundation of glory
For many of these players, privilege didn’t come from money or infrastructure, it came from the faith of families who understood the long odds and still persisted.
She was always one of the most dedicated servants of the game, leading her team Railways to many important wins, but when Sneh Rana’s father passed away in 2021, cricket became her inspiration and her solace.
When Renuka Thakur lost her father at the age of three in Rohru, her mother ensured that her daughter was not distracted. News agency ANI quoted her mother Sunita as saying, “I want to tell all the parents that if your daughters want to move forward then never hold them back. Support them, encourage them, let them shine.”
Even in urban settings like Mumbai or Delhi, this pattern persists. Jemimah Rodrigues grew up in a middle-class household in Bandra, where sports and spirituality were equally sacred. His father, Ivan, a PE teacher and coach, took over his coaching; His mother Lavita took care of everything else. He started the tournament poorly and was eliminated midway through, but found his way back into form and form (and he thanked Jesus, his family, and the team for that).
In Delhi, Pratika Rawal, a top student and psychology major, thanks balanced books and parents who valued both, the importance of Delhi University’s seal of approval on her degree and her own ambitions. It helped that her father, a BCCI level-II certified umpire, got a foothold in one of the two tough worlds she was a part of, even though her mother kept her on the ground. She was about nine years old, in third grade when she first asked her father, BCCI-certified umpire Pradeep Raval, if she too could make a living in the game they both loved. “As long as you enjoy it, keep doing it,” he said.
Harmanpreet’s father became her first fan and forever inspiration. After the victory, the team captain ran and jumped into her father’s lap. Harmanpreet’s first coach and mentor Kamaldish Pal Singh Sodhi recalled seeing her playing with a scarf tied around her waist and being impressed. He ran Gyan Jyoti School and Girls Cricket Academy in Darapur, Moga and recruited them in his team. In their first year in 2006, they became state school champions.
Wicketkeeper and power-hitter Richa Ghosh’s father Manabendra was her childhood coach and is still her confidant. Her house was just 200 meters away from the ground and she often accompanied her father to the Baghajatin Athletic Club in Siliguri. Her childhood coach Gopal Saha said, “When she joined the camp, she was the only girl who practiced only with boys. But now, boys also respect her.”
As soon as India won the World Cup, celebrations took place in towns and cities, often away from the national spotlight. Local courtyards and community centers became spontaneous centers of celebration, with people distributing sweets, dancing in the streets and sharing proud moments.
mum’s the word
Quietly, mothers also shaped this revolution. Arundhati Reddy’s mother Bhagya raised her alone. Luck, a semi-professional volleyball player, brought athleticism to her daughter’s childhood. He supported her cricket dreams, defended her during school attendance issues and even encouraged her to leave her railway job when she was not getting enough playing opportunities.
In April, Sri Charani became the first woman from YSR-Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh to play for India. His father’s reluctance about making cricket his sport of choice instead of athletics was vetoed by his mother’s support. She was India’s best spinner in the tournament.
“When I went and told my mother that I wanted to play cricket, she immediately supported me. But it took a year to convince my father,” Charani told BCCI.TV. “Although my uncle trained me to be a fast bowler, I was not getting wickets. I tried spin, it worked.”
Many of his parents were sports players who never got their due – volleyball and basketball players, district cricketers, coaches and umpires. Harmanpreet inherited her father’s sporting talent, Smriti inherited her father’s batting skills and Jemima inherited her father’s talent.
Sushila Sharma, mother of tournament best player Deepti, said, “Deepti has made our family and the entire country proud. The credit for her success goes to her brother Sumit, who taught her cricket since childhood.”
In their historic victory, these women have changed the map of Indian cricket. He has shown that greatness can grow anywhere, especially in the muddy backyards of obscure towns and districts. For the next generation that will now grow up believing they can, the Class of 2025 has paved the way.
On Sunday, DY Patil Stadium of Navi Mumbai became the ground of everyone’s dreams.
