MrGrowing up in Rural India, Shafali Verma always knew he had the hunger to play cricket. But in her small town of Rohtak, in the North Indian State of Haryana, Cricket is not a game for girls. Aged nine, desperate to play, he cut his hair short, entered a tournament disguised as his brother, and proceeded to beat the man in the game.
Verma’s targeted father Sanjeev, despite refusing every cricket Academy or training center would not accept his daughter. “Luckily, nothing was found,” he said rememberedas Verma made her debut for the National Women’s Team at the age of 15.
On Sunday, Verma stood admired by her colleagues as they hosted the Women’s Cricket World Cup, making history for India’s national team to win the cup – and for equality. The struggles and sacrifices made over the years by the women to get here – overcoming social stigma, a lack of resources and juggling manual work between training – make their victory even more remarkable.
It comes at a critical turning point for Women’s Cricket in India, where sports verges on a national religion, a dollar a dollar a “gentleman”. It was only in 2017 that women cricketers were awarded full-time professional contracts and a women’s Premier League (WPL) was established in 2023.
Varnika Choudhary, who plays for the Uttar Pradesh State Under-23s Women’s Team, describes how her small village in Beerakheri used to play games with her parents to stop her. Although the Cricket-Cractilil Village regularly gathers to watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) and IPL) World Cup, professional women’s cricket is largely ignored.
But this time, said Choududy, the whole village is sitting in the square to watch the World’s World’s World Cup on Sunday. “Everyone in my village was excited about their victory,” he said. “They all sent me pictures and reels and messages saying: ‘This is what you will win for India one day.'”
Many in his village were particularly impressed with Verma’s batting. “They told me, wow he hit like a man,” Choududary said. “I have to correct them and say, no one is put together like a woman.”
Hundreds of millions of people across India were watching the end and Choudhary was one of the many who saw the victory, not only for women in India’s highly patriarchal society. Although many women in India are educated, they suffer from severe societal pressures on how they are expected to behave and present themselves in public.
“More women playing cricket has changed everything, not just the sport,” Choudhary said. “We feel independent, we feel we are doing something for ourselves and that society will finally see us as equal to men.”
Sharon Ugra, one of the authors of Crickets in India, says that the importance of the match has never been in cricket. “For Indian women in the public space, your body is often seen as a source of honor or shame,” she said. “So to see these girls – who mostly come from small rural towns – running, lightening, screaming, sends a very strong message.” The view is very beautiful. “
The national team, led by the Captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, became Indian sportytyyfter their victory, and this week was hosted by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. The significance of their win for Indian women was widely recognized by the team, who paid tribute to the women cricketers who flashed their lead. Without this trophy, Kaur said after the game, “the revolution, the change we want, will not come”.
Urra said she believed the win would prompt cricket to become a girls-run sport in the run-up to the IPL, a propchise worth $18.5bn (£14bn).
There are only five teams in the WPL and resources and cricket academies available for young women are still limited, especially in the mountainous regions. Women’s Cricket in India also does not have its own governing body, falling under the men’s.
At a cricket academy in Delhi’s Gargi College, the impact of the victory is already being felt. Standing on top of his whites in his hands, 11-year-old Kiere Karere says he is more motivated than the national team in a day. “This winning match proved to everyone that women’s cricket is as good as men’s, they are playing smoothly,” he said. “We can hit hard and we can run just as easy. Honestly, I think they play better than those guys.”
A few years ago, SpreeHA MAAUYA, who is now 18, was the only girl who attended this academy and spent many years playing with the boys. The coaches, so determined to get girls into the sport, initially let Mauria play for free.
“It was very exciting and inspiring to see the end, and see the Stadium completely packed and everyone was screaming and I’ve never seen people win over people like that,” said Mauria.
“I think winning this World Cup reinforces our belief that women can do anything and that it’s no longer a gentleman’s game.”
Standing in the aisles, her father Rudal Maaha, 54, said when he first brought his daughter to about 500 girls – this year about 500 attended. Looking around the field, where girls as young as six were standing in the batting nets, his eyes fluttered.
“The mind is changing, so more parents will bring their girls for training now, and that will change the society,” he said. “My daughter is very passionate about cricket. It is our whole family’s dream that one day, she too will play for India.”
Additional Reporting by Aakash Hassan