NAVI MUMBAI: Harmanpreet Kaur ran back from short covers on the 46th over of the chase, trying to catch the ball at the DY Patil Stadium. It was not just a catch, but a dream; a destiny and a World Cup.
One they had been searching for decades with little luck. From the moment, she held on to it — one that dismissed South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk and made them World Champions — everything came to a standstill.
Kaur ran and ran and ran in joy around the ground until she ran into Arundhati Reddy and leapt on to her. Soon they were engulfed by the rest of the team — the two South Africans in the middle of the pitch trying to make sense of it — and the tears broke. They were inconsolable. However, unlike in 2017, where India lost to the ODI WC final in England, or in 2020, where Australia hammered them in the T20 WC, these were tears of joy. A feeling that Harmanpreet and the generations of Indian women who came before her had yearned and longed for.
The moment came right when Sunday broke into Monday and these 16 players, including Pratika Rawal who joined the team in celebrations, sitting in a wheelchair, wrote their names in history books, by bringing eternal glory to the country and the women.
This win, however, did not come easy. In fact, for a while it felt like a cumulative grief had engulfed the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. There was death knell silence among the 35,000-plus fans who had filled the stands in the hopes of watching India women lift their first ICC trophy had gone quiet thanks to South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt who had held fort at one end, building partnership — one after another.
India, however, did what they had to. They hung in there, patiently, waiting for the occasion to catch up with South Africa. And it did. Every once in a while someone or the other would come in and contribute — including Shafali Verma. It was a gamble Harmanpreet took against Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus, which massively paid off. If there ever were doubts in their minds, that over, and spell from Verma would have given Harmanpreet the confidence and the belief that this is after all going to be their night. From thereon, they just kept plugging away with overs before Deepti Sharma — easily the best bowler of the tournament — once again showed up for India. She took five wickets for 39 runs, ran through the lower-order, finishing with 22 wickets in the World Cup. It was her moment as much as it was Harmanpreet’s. She was there in the middle of it all during the collapse in England and the no ball against South Africa in 2022. Sunday ended up being the pinnacle of her redemption.
In many ways, that has been the storyline of the World Cup. Jemimah Rodrigues was dropped in 2022, moved around the order and missed a game in between, came to the occasion in the semifinal. Shafali did not come until the semis as an injury replacement. She failed against Australia but delivered an all-round performance on the day that mattered the most. There was Amanjot Kaur who not just provided the balance but quietly chipped in with runs and wickets. Pratika Rawal got injured but not before contributing with the willow, youngsters NR Sree Charani and Kranti Gaud owned the stage and so did the rest of the team. Then there was of course Smriti Mandhana, the leader of the team and a captain in-waiting. She scored 434 runs — more than any Indian in a Women’s World Cup — including a crucial 48 in the final. Spare a thought for the head coach Amol Muzumdar. Never got a chance to play for India, now he has led India women to their first World Cup. This campaign, for India, has been anything but perfect. But throughout the tournament they did the little things that mattered and they did so at the right time.
Now, in the middle of the DY Patil Stadium, on a night where their dream became reality, the 16 women and the support staff stand tall with the one thing the entire country had been longing for. The thing that would make them wake up tomorrow and feel like champions. For India are the World Champions.
Brief scores: India 298/7 in 50 ovs (Shafali 87, Deepti 58; Khaka 3/58) vs South Africa 246 in 45.3 ovs (Wolvaardt 101; Deepti 5/39, Shafali 2/8).
