What Makes The Indian Women’s Cricket World Cup Win Epochal

For fans and followers of women’s cricket, November 2 – the day the ICC World Cup finals were held in Mumbai – began on a strange note. There were unscheduled, hours-long power cuts in some parts of Central India, where I reside, which made many apprehensive about being able to watch the final match on time. Then there was a delay in the start of the match – between India and South Africa — due to rains.

When the match finally did start, around 5 pm, most women’s cricket fans said a secret prayer for the team and that they may see India to lift the trophy at the end of day. The Indian women’s cricket team did just that, shortly past midnight and created history in more ways than one.

Not only did they win a Women’s Cricket World Cup for the first time ever, along the way they also shattered illusions and demolished stereotypes about women. In a cricket-obsessed nation like India, for once it did not matter whether the blue jersey was worn by men or women. India came together to celebrate unabashedly a victory that was unprecedented and inspirational.

From Harmanpreet Kaur to Shefali Varma, from Kranti Gaud to Deepti Sharma, the majority of the team players belonged not to sprawling metro cities but to dusty towns across the length and breadth of India.

Their historic win made hearts swell with pride everywhere — from Bhopal to Bareilly and from Midnapur to Jamnagar. We may never really be able to fathom the impact of the Indian cricket team’s stellar show on field on a little girl from the hinterland watching the match with her family or on a teenaged girl from Ranthambhore aspiring to one day take up professional cricket.

Why is this victory epochal? The way the team came back from suffering three losses to put up a stellar performance in the semi-final and final is, in itself remarkable; add to that the burden of expectations and searing pressure to win after having lost the trophy not once but twice before. Team India had reached the World Cup final twice earlier, losing to Australia by 98 runs in 2005 and to England by 9 runs in 2017.

Then, there is the matter of the elephant in the room – the fact that 90% of Indian families had, till recently, constrained their girls from competing in sports, considering it to be the domain of boys. In a country notorious for misogyny and horrific crimes against women, encouraging one’s daughter or sister to take up sports is a huge step, one that comes with accompanying social stigma.

Things have changed, arguably, in the past few years. After Sunday’s win, more Indian parents might hesitate less in considering sports, especially cricket, as a career option for their daughters. What has helped is the BCCI announcing handsome cash prizes for members of the winning team. Expectedly, once decision-makers in families realise that sports can be lucrative, they will have fewer excuses to keep girls away from playgrounds and stadia.

However, there still remains the thorny matter of pay parity between men’s and women’s cricket teams. While women players achieved equal match fees in 2022—₹15 lakh per Test, ₹6 lakh per ODI, and ₹3 lakh per T20I—their annual retainerships remain far lower. Top women cricketers like Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Deepti Sharma earn ₹50 lakh yearly, in stark contrast to the ₹7 crore annual retainership for the men’s top grade.

Also concerning is the difference in income from endorsements and other revenue streams among men’s and women’s cricketers. Additionally, while men’s cricket team members acquire celebrity status in the country and their every move is carefully followed and discussed, women’s cricket team members struggle to even figure significantly in public discourse. This results in fewer brand endorsements and accompanying perks for women players.

However, going by the pan-India reaction to India’s win on Sunday, it can be said with a lot of confidence that things are set to change for the better and going forward, women cricketers in particular and women athletes in general can expect superior treatment and changed attitudes.

The days when mothers and other female members of the family would encourage girls to apply fairness creams – in hopes of landing a favourable marital match — may well be over. Indian girls now seem poised to take a step towards a less limiting future, one not constrained by ‘sanskari’ choices but based on their talent in any given field, including the sporting arena, as the Women in Blue have just shown the world.