Oh how we wept. Tears of pure joy. Maybe we just felt vindicated. Maybe we remembered our own struggles—to be allowed to work, to dodge the creepy boss, to learn to draw boundaries at work and home, to be judged by a different standard from men. Watching the women hold that cup felt personal. And so we wept. On the stands, at home watching TV, speaking to friends about that sweet, sweet win the morning after.

In the loveliest of gestures, captain Harmanpreet Kaur chose to honour the women on whose shoulders the team stood victorious. Calling on former cricketers Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and Anjum Chopra to come, touch, celebrate and be acknowledged for clearing the path was to witness the power of sisterhood. Later, Jhulan would write in Sportstar, “This victory feels personal—not just for me, but for every player who came before this generation and laid the foundation.” Watching from the stands was a group of former players, women in their sixties, who knew what it was to travel by train to play, sleeping on mattresses spread out in school classrooms at night. Among them was Nilima Joglekar who had played in the first ever women’s inter-state nationals back in 1973. And, yes, she wept too.

More than the past, it is the future where this win’s impact will be most keenly felt. From Moga to Sangli and Siliguri to Kadapa, girls now know they can. They have a right to belong on playing fields, a right to take up space. It sends also a signal to parents that the sports field is no longer out-of-bounds for their daughters. It is the gateway to opportunity,........

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