Unsung architects who built India’s Women’s World Cup triumph

You just had to be there at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai to take it all in. Of course, a lot of it looked very, very impressive and emotional on screens, but the fervour, the fever and ultimately the finish, needed to be felt in the flesh. As thousands of Indian fans, from different parts of the city, country and indeed the world, descended and celebrated the achievement of a lifetime that, at this moment, seems to have changed the women’s game forever in the nation.

But it was not always this way. It was not this way even a few years back. And it certainly was not this way when the 1970s were around, or when the 20th century was in its pomp. At that time, women’s cricket was not taken seriously at all. It was looked upon badly, scoffed upon heavily and those harbouring dreams were dismissed without as much as a chance to prove themselves and their mettle.

Thankfully for India and Indian cricket, though, they had some visionaries. People who may not be remembered a lot nowadays, people who may not be mentioned in the zillion social media posts that have done the rounds since Sunday, but people who made all of what is happening in 2025 possible.

One man’s vision sparks a movement

None, perhaps, was as important as Mahendra Kumar Sharma, who from scratch and below, gave Indian women’s cricket a platform. And it all began in 1973, two years before the first men’s World Cup came into being, ten years before the men’s side actually won something on the global stage, and five years before India began featuring in the Women’s World Cup consistently.

The Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) was formed and duly registered under the Societies Act in Lucknow. That association comprised of volunteers and people whose primary interest was the development of the women’s game in India. They were not worried about what income it would generate or the financial aspect, and more often than not, those people had to pay out of their own pockets, just to ensure the sport went on the way it should.

India’s first Women’s World Cup appearance came with the WCAI as the apex body for women’s cricket. And it was only in 2005 that that changed because the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC), previously administering the women’s side of the game, merged with the ICC, with the ICC then asking each member board to also take it under their wing – the BCCI doing so a year later in 2006.

In between the early 1970s and the mid-2000s, Indian women’s cricket was WCAI, and WCAI was Indian women’s cricket, if that makes sense. Feasible only because Mahendra Kumar Sharma, who sadly passed away a few years ago, had a dream and had a vision. And seeing where this game is now, he will be looking down from above with pride.

The formation of the WCAI and the foundation it accorded also allowed several Indian female cricketers to leave a mark on the international stage. Shantha Rangaswamy was one of the first ones to do so, and has long been established as a pioneer for the sport.

Early pioneer who dared to dream

Rangaswamy was the Indian women’s team’s first-ever captain, and represented the national team for more than a decade, distinguishing herself with her leadership and her ability as an all-rounder. And alongside Diana Edulji, who also featured during the same period and finished as the third-highest wicket taker in Women’s Tests history, India, as a country, saw what female cricketers could do against teams with better facilities and resources, and how far women’s cricket in India could go.

Then came along Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj as the 20th century ticked into the next, and the pair, apart from competing with the very best at the very top, built significantly on the platform that Edulji and Rangaswamy (among several other players), and Mahendra Kumar Sharma, through his administrative foresight, had laid.

Jhulan and Mithali told thousands and millions of girls in India that they could be world-beaters too. Mithali still leads the global run-scoring charts and led India to the final of two separate Women’s World Cups (in 2005 and 2017), whereas Jhulan, who also played a vital part in both of the aforementioned campaigns, is still way out in front as the leading wicket-taker in women’s ODI history.

Anjum Chopra, now a constant voice in the women’s game and an advocate of it, played her part too, scoring runs for India as an opener at a time when batting was the much tougher gig.

These contributions, right from the early 1970s, through to the end of the century and the beginning of this one, has led now to this moment where Harmanpreet Kaur can lift a World Cup trophy, in front of thousands at a ground, and a billion others can rejoice in it and relish the moment.

It would be slightly counterintuitive not to give the current squad any credit because, well, it was them who played the opposition and trumped them in the end. But it would also be a disservice not to remember those who came before them, and those who made all of this possible, through their words but more pivotally, through their actions. Especially in a society where female cricketers, far too often, had to prosper despite the system, rather than due to it.

There is, in fact, a Hindi song that talks about how poets each have their shelf life. That they come, perform, enthrall the audience and then leave that stage to someone else. Most of the time, that is true. But every once in a while, someone comes along and leaves the stage in a much better place than how it was earlier. And each of the people mentioned above fit that criteria.

Present generation reaps the rewards

Mahendra Kumar Sharma, and Edulji and Rangaswamy hobbled and tiptoed so Anjum, Jhulan and Mithali could walk. Anjum, Jhulan and Mithali walked so that Harmanpreet Kaur , Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma could run. And Harmanpreet, Mandhana and Deepti have now run in such a manner that the upcoming generation, which always comes at you quicker than the next set of waves, can have dreams of not just sprinting and dashing, but also of flying.

Flying like the world belongs to them. Flying like this is their time, and flying in the knowledge that even if they fall, they have the requisite support system in place to not let them crash and burn.

And for that, and for that alone, the pioneers, those who visualised what this women’s game could become, and what this women’s game should be, deserve a pedestal all their own. Because without them, there would have been no Women’s World Cup final. No packed stadiums. No dreams being realized. And most definitely no Women’s World Cup title.