India on the cusp of glory

TODAY COULD BE a game-changing day in this cricket-crazy country. Kapil Dev’s Devils did the unthinkable by beating the mighty West Indies to become 1983 world champions, making cricket the default sport in India.

- Tushar Bhaduri

Now Harmanpreet Kaur and her band of merry girls have a chance to usher in a ‘1983 moment’ of their own. Harmanpreet’s 171-run knock against Australia in the 2017 World Cup semifinal was a seminal moment for Indian women’s cricket, and what Jemimah Rodrigues achieved at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on Thursday evening ensured that her innings would be spoken of in the same breath.

Chasing down a world record target, that too in a World Cup knockout game against the near-invincible Aussies, is a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. It needed talent, grit and belief — especially when they had messed up a much smaller chase against England 11 days earlier.

The South Africans may not possess the aura of the Australians, but the first job for Harmanpreet and head coach Amol Muzumdar would have been to ensure that the players came back to earth from the incredible high they had just experienced. The packed stadium for the semifinal indicated that women’s cricket is no longer the poorer cousin.

Everybody loves a winner and if India gets the silverware, that too in front of a home crowd, these players will become heroes for life.

The morning after the semifinal, ticket prices for the final were going through the roof, but still people were ready to pay. The allure of being there, in the flesh, to see history being made, is hard to resist. It's all a far cry from just over a week ago when India’s spot in the semifinals was far from certain after three close defeats.