India Wins Women’s Cricket World Cup

It was not long ago here in Mumbai that Harmanpreet Kaur juggled a day job as a railway clerk with the grueling training sessions as a young member of India’s national women’s cricket team.

Away from her family and her hometown in Punjab, Ms. Kaur began her days at dawn — long hours of shuttling from a morning practice to work and back again to an evening training session. Lunch was a bite on the train. Her biggest anxiety: Not finishing evening practice before the rush hour and the departure of the final train, which would leave her a 90-minute walk home.

When Ms. Kaur stepped onstage in the same city after Sunday’s match, way past midnight and long after the last local train had departed, it was to collect the World Cup’s winning trophy as India’s captain. Her team had just beaten South Africa, notching its first-ever World Cup title. Fireworks went off, and a crowd of about 40,000 roared in joy.

It was a personal victory against once insurmountable odds. But it also spoke to the budding transformation of women’s sports in India, in line with the broader excitement around women’s sports globally right now.

Cricket is hugely popular in the country of 1.4 billion people, a staple in homes across the nation, and generates hundreds of millions of dollars every year that sustains the sport globally. That women in India are slowly getting to share a small part of those riches, and glory could have much wider ramifications in a country still struggling with the role of women in public life.

“We have been thinking for many years that we are playing good cricket, but that we still need to win a big tournament,” Ms. Kaur, 36, said after the victory. “Because without that, the revolution, the change we want won’t come.”

Smriti Mandhana, India’s vice captain, said she hoped the milestone could bring a cultural shift.

“The ultimate dream is to see a street cricket match with two girls’ teams playing — there are a lot of girls who have started playing professionally — but just casually, for the love of the game,” she said in an interview on YouTube. “A World Cup win will be a step toward that for sure.”

The World Cup came to India at a sweet spot for the women’s game.

The landscape began changing around 2017, when national players were given regular contracts. It allowed players like Ms. Kaur to pursue cricket full time, even though the pay was a fraction of the men’s and it offered job security only for the few who made it to the top.

Then, three years ago, a $500-million investment was made in a private women’s cricket league, which has been building momentum for the sport — bringing new viewership and expanding the talent pool as young women athletes increasingly view it as a possible career option. The highest-paid player in the private Women’s Premier League earns nearly half a million dollars for a season that lasts about a month.

Fans tuned in and turned up in record numbers for many of India’s World Cup games. Both the semifinal and the final saw crowds of over 35,000 — despite confusion around scheduling and last-minute ticket releases. The match’s main digital broadcaster app showed over 300 million views of the final.

“The people are valuing the game,” said Shaili Sathyu, 50, a theater director who had waited patiently for the rain to clear before the final got underway after a two-hour delay. “But the sport’s management does everything to get in the way.”

She said the full potential will only be unlocked if the deeply-entrenched misogyny around the sport’s organizing and broadcasting is tackled.

In front of her in the stands, a group that call themselves “The Bucket Hatters,” young enthusiasts of women’s sports who find each other at women’s matches, were enjoying themselves. They sang patriotic songs, danced and led cheers for player after player who came on to bat.

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,” went a cheer for one of India’s star all-rounders. “Oh what fun — to watch Deepti Sharma play!”

Ms. Sharma, from a small town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, is also a deputy superintendent of police, a job she got through a sports quota, which gives some athletes a priority in appointments. She already has a road named after her.

India’s road to the World Cup final was bumpy. But things changed when the team knocked Australia out in the semifinals, overcoming a mountain of a task in a high-scoring game against the seven-time world champions.

“It’s a billion hopes, to be honest,” Dinesh Karthik, a former cricket player said during that match’s broadcast as India was on verge of victory.

For many involved in the women’s game, the victory over Australia was a turning point — the team had finally overcome a psychological barrier, a fear that kept them falling short in clutch situations.

“It’s not because they beat Australia, it is because how things have changed,” Aarti Sankaran, a cricket coach and former player, said in a video celebrating that victory. “From where we started to where we are today, there is no comparison.”

Jemimah Rodrigues, the star player who had carried the team over the line, broke down and curled up on the pitch as the crowd roared and her teammates sprinted onto the field to mob her. A high-energy crowd favorite who dances and sings at every opportunity, she sobbed through her post-match interview as she spoke of dealing with a year of anxiety. Ms. Kaur, the captain, wept as she hugged her players.

In the days ahead of the final, the team was everywhere — on TV, in the newspapers, all over social media. The country’s biggest celebrities celebrated their success, wishing them good luck, while others looked ahead to the game with hope.

“I took the night shift so I can watch the match,” Babu Reza, a taxi driver in Mumbai said on the morning of the final.

For Ms. Kaur, the night was a long way from the days she ran around Mumbai, trying to juggle her job with her passion — and with the train schedule. The same city now turned up to watch her team, and stood on its feet at 1 a.m. to cheer as they took a victory lap around the stadium.

“The celebration will go on all night,” she said.