One final hurdle: Buoyed by historic win, Harmanpreet Kaur’s India brace for era-defining showdown against South Africa

The day is almost here. The day this Indian team and their fans have waited for. Ever since they began playing the Women’s World Cup, and ever since that afternoon in London in 2017 , when India came close to touching the ultimate prize, but watched on helplessly as it slipped through their fingers.

Now, all of those memories can be expunged. Across a few hours of cricket. Across a match that might define an era, and might, given the significance of this home World Cup, end up defining women’s cricket in the country too.

There is no denying women’s cricket in India is in a much better space than it was a few years ago. The Women’s Premier League (WPL) forms a vital part of the global calendar. The domestic competitions are tightly-contested, and those tournaments are not far and few in between either.

The effects of the WPL can already be felt too. Power-hitting, in the Indian team, has evolved. They are increasingly fearless, and even when pushed against the wall by a team as strong as Australia, India held their nerve.

But sport does tick along in mysterious ways. The ground work, extra effort being put in behind the scenes, the cricketers and all that they have given up to be the best version of themselves, will, if things go to plan on Sunday, start becoming a part of the Indian cricketing psyche, much like the men’s game, and much like how the women’s game should have anyway been, with or without this World Cup. That is a longer and more nuanced conversation, although now that India are in this position, the potentially dramatic ripple effects cannot be overlooked either.

Will women’s cricket in India finally have its 1983 moment? 

Way back in 1983, when the Indian men’s team rocked up in the United Kingdom, they were barely given a chance. Several accounts, memoirs, and films have been premiered to shed light on what the perception was then. Yet, that Indian team found a way to outlast all of it, and stand atop the entire pile. That that happened against the West Indies, comfortably the best team on the planet at the time, and easily the most fearsome, only added another layer of sheen to the achievement.

India did something similar on Thursday . If anything, this Australian women’s team may have felt even more invincible than that West Indian side. India were also up against history, and needed to chase a score no one had EVER done in the women’s game. And still, they defied the odds.

Also Read | How Muzumdar’s ‘hair-dryer’ moment and a bond of trust took India from the brink to the World Cup final

That triumph in 1983 led to a considerable surge in interest. Youngsters, who may have previously only played the sport as a hobby, began visualising themselves standing on the balcony of the fabled Lord’s Cricket Ground, holding a World Cup trophy.

Cricket began being looked upon as a serious career option. Even if the real money-spinners (hello, IPL) came much later and long after the 21st century came into being. And all of that has now materialised into India boasting this massive, massive player pool in men’s cricket, which may not have won as many World Cups as, say, Australia in recent times, but talent for talent, remains unparalleled.

India winning on Sunday might similarly tell young girls in small villages and towns, in places where cricket is not really as much of a career gig currently, where young girls and their sporting interests may still be scoffed at, that they too can have dreams.

That if Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana can thwart all the obstacles that were thrown at them, they can do so too. And that if this Indian team, after falling short time and again, can still pick itself up and summon a campaign that ultimately yields a happier ending, they can stick at it, with grit, with determination and with the belief that things will fall in place for them too.

Staying grounded ahead of the big final

A tangible title will also help India as they seek to establish a dynasty, like Australia have done over the years, and that will put pressure on them. Irrespective of which lens they want to look through. And that, perhaps, is what they will want to guard against. Because the last thing India would want at this stage is to look too far ahead, and stumble over the roadblocks South Africa are sure to set.

The emotions, undoubtedly, will be running high. The stakes perhaps higher. And the jeopardy perhaps greater. But like India did against Australia, they must only concentrate on the next ball. Boring. Mundane. Simple. But potentially decisive.

To that extent, it is funny that this day of days, which has so much riding on it, which will have so much fallout (positive and/or negative) once it is done, will boil down to the basics. But that is how cricket rolls.

The moment you take your eye off the ball, the sport punishes you. The moment you think about what may happen tomorrow, or what happened yesterday, today stings. And South Africa, boasting the likes of Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk and Nonkululeko Mlaba, have more than enough firepower to make that a very painful sting.

Also Read | Why South Africa might finally be ready to fulfill World Cup dream after years of heartbreak

India have overcome a lot to be here and irrespective of what happens on Sunday, their journey will have inspired countless people across the length and the breadth of the country. But South Africa have been through something similar too. Faltering just before the finish, and longing for that one moment that will alter the narrative forever.

And if India, or even South Africa, for that matter, think they will be able to ride their wave of momentum and emotion through to the end of the final on Sunday, they will have slightly misunderstood the assignment, and underestimated the importance of the day(s) that comes after a day of such significance, or what follows after a crescendo.

The miracle of Navi Mumbai , as it may now be called, will forever remain with Jemimah, Harmanpreet and this Indian team – that is beyond question. But the fickleness of sporting memories means a gut-wrenching defeat in the final, even if it will not entirely throw a spanner in the works, will reduce and dwindle the cascading effect of that run-chase and that victory. It may hurt a lot more than if India had lost to Australia on Thursday too.

That contemplation, though, does not need to happen on Saturday. Or hours out from the final. It will have its own time and place. And the time and place, right now, demands not thinking about how much of a watershed moment this could be, even if this is the type of watershed moment India have been craving and playing for.

India have done that well over the past week or so. Starting from the almost must-win game against New Zealand. Now to do it just one more time. To have the world at their feet. And to have that previously elusive World Cup trophy in their hands. Just like they always thought and wanted it to be. And just like billions of fans will have been manifesting.