Racing Ahead

For years, women were forced to support their passion for cricket with other paying jobs. But with well-paying playing contracts and opportunities in professional leagues, more women than ever are embracing the sport wholeheartedly.

- Karunya Keshav

IN the summer of 2017, Smriti Mandhana was a 20-year-old who was fighting to recover from a knee injury in time for the Women's World Cup in England that year. Taking a break from her rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, she joined the hordes to watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium next door. The atmosphere was unlike anything she had experienced before. Smriti's mother, who accompanied her, voiced her daughter's thoughts when she wondered when such crowds, such adulation, such theatre would ever grace women's cricket. Smriti, used to the anonymity of empty stands, patchy TV coverage and passing mentions in the media, dismissed such notions as fanciful.

Cut to 2024. Smriti was again at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, this time in the middle for her first toss as captain of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) women's team at their home ground. Her voice was drowned out by cheers from the RCB faithful. The near-capacity crowd was electric. In its second edition, the Women's Premier League (WPL) had begun to establish itself as prime time entertainment. Smriti, the most expensive player at the first WPL auction, was a popular face on billboards and in ads. That February evening, she was visibly emotional at how far her sport had come.

The joy again flowed on November 2, 2025, when there was a moment that not only reflected how much women's cricket in India has grown, on and off the field, but also served as an accelerator for the next decade of growth: India lifted their first senior women's World Cup trophy. A sold-out crowd of 45,000 stayed back past midnight at the D. Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai to vociferously celebrate a team that had become “our girls”. Record audiences tuned in on TVs and mobile devices. A new generation of sportspersons was inspired. Women's sport in India will never be the same again.