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"This Time, It's Ours!"

- By Kayal Arivalan

These were the words India's passionate cricket fan base across the world echoed when the team lifted its maiden ICC Women's ODI World Cup trophy - a victory born from years of grit and belief.

At the heart of that winning moment stood HARMANPREET KAUR, the captain who led that squad. She relives that moment and the journey that led to it for Femina.

It was November 2, 2025. Team India faced South Africa in the finals of the ICC Women's ODI World Cup. India won, through stellar play, in effect closing out a very long (and previously painful) history given how close the team had come to winning the trophy in both 2005 and 2017. This time, the team ensured the story that began five decades ago - when the Women's Cricket Association of India set up its office in 1973 — finally reached its long-awaited high.

As Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the India squad, collected the trophy at the presentation ceremony, the significance of the victory hit her in waves. “When the last wicket fell, it wasn’t celebration I felt first, it was silence... Then relief hit, deep and heavy, followed by joy. Looking at the girls, I thought, finally, we did it,” she says, speaking to Femina, about the kind of relief only years of unfulfilled dreams can build.

On the night of the finals, as the clock struck midnight, Harmanpreet floored an entire nation. Sprinting back from the position of extra cover, the captain launched herself into a full-length dive to dismiss South Africa's Nadine de Klerk with a stunning catch.

That moment didn't just end the match — it rewrote the story of women’s cricket in India. As fireworks tore through the Navi Mumbai sky, millions rose to their feet, celebrating a victory that had eluded India for far too long.