BREAKING BOUNDARIES

INDIA'S HISTORIC WORLD CUP WIN IS A GAME-CHANGING MOMENT NOT JUST FOR CRICKET BUT FOR WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT

- SUHANI SINGH

That night on November 2, there were several heart-stopping moments when Indian cricket fans—a record 190 million of them watching the 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup final on television and streaming services, and another 40,000, dressed mostly in blue, present at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai—sensed that victory for the home team was nigh.

One was when an athletic Amanjot Kaur—already the star of a stunning direct runout—took a fumbling, tumbling sky-high catch that stopped South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt in her tracks just as she seemed poised to take the game away from India. Another was when Deepti Sharma yorked Annerie Dercksen to take the third of her match-winning five wickets—all that after a steadying, run-a-ball 58 while batting. Then there was the stroke of pure genius by captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Harry Di to teammates, when she took the high-risk gambit of getting Shafali Verma, known more for wielding the willow, to bowl. Verma delivered handsomely by taking two priceless wickets. Finally, the captain herself took a magical leaping catch to close off the match.

Harmanpreet Kaur |36| Innings: 8; Runs: 260; Average: 32.5