History herself arrived in bridal makeup to script history at the stroke of midnight on November 2 (12:03 am, November 3, to be precise), when India lifted its maiden ICC One Day Women’s World Cup Trophy, defeating South Africa by 52 runs at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. To reach where they reached, Indian cricketers defeated both the rain god and their internal demons to make the audacious dream come true.

There is only one parallel in the cricketing annals to this stupendous feat: the reimagining moment of the Indian Cricket team, led by Kapil Dev, holding their maiden Prudential World Cup Trophy aloft on June 25, 1983, at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London after defeating the mighty West Indies by 43 runs.

It is ironical that Bharat, the cricketing powerhouse, has won the ICC ODI World Cup only thrice in more than five decades. The first win came in 1983 when India beat the West Indies in the final. It took close to three decades for India to win the second ODI World Cup after they defeated Sri Lanka in the final in 2011. And it has taken 52 years to win the third ODI World Cup in 2025.

But there is a difference.

While the first two World Cup wins were won by the men’s team, the cup in 2025 was lifted by the daughters of Bharat against all odds.

The taste of the victory was sweeter for the four-time ODI Asia Cup Champions (2004, 2005-06, 2006, 2008) as it came after two prior heart-wrenching defeats in the final – losing to Australia by 98 runs in 2005 and losing to England by 9 runs in 2017 before beating South Africa by 52 runs in 2025.

Getting into the tournament, Bharat was ranked 3rd in the ODI team ranking. The ones who were fancied to win the tournament were Australia (7 times Champion) and England (4 times Champion) in the 13 editions of the ODI World Cup. The only other team that has won the ODI World Cup was New Zealand in 2000, which defeated Australia in the final.

Despite two early confidence-building victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the team, already reeling under the expectations of the home crowd, was almost knocked out of the tournament, as it was brought to its knees with three consecutive defeats – against South Africa, Australia, and England – in the league stage.

It was at this juncture that, powering on the blistering centuries by Smriti Mandhana (109, 95 balls) and Pratika Rawal (122, 132 balls) and the mesmerising knock of 76 runs off 55 balls by Jemimah Jessica Rodrigues, India racked up 340 for 3 against New Zealand, defeating it by 69 runs to clinch the fourth spot in the semi-final lineup.

Though the last group match against Bangladesh was washed out, it brought a heart-wrenching tournament ending to Pratika Rawal, the turnaround hero, in the tournament.........

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