The bubble that birthed history: India Women’s winding path to World Cup glory

“For the next seven hours, we cut out all the noise. We cut them out of our lives. We create our own bubble here. For seven hours, we step into it, and we finish that game! We write our own story. No more stories from outside. You will write your own stories. Let’s create history.”

Head coach Amol Muzumdar’s rousing pre-game talk in the huddle set the tone for what would be an epochal triumph for the Indian women’s cricket team.

It’s been two years since the Mumbai domestic cricket veteran took charge of this women’s senior team. Factionalism within the side, a revolving door of coaches, and a general apathy towards professionalism meant fiefdoms thrived in selection and team structure, unsurprisingly impacting success.

For Muzumdar, the mandate was simple. Professionalise the setup, bring in rigour in ‘fitness and fielding’, and bridge the gap between ambition and its realisation.

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The build-up to the tournament was easily the best India has ever had. The Women in Blue played 38 ODIs in this World Cup cycle. In the last 12 months alone, India met Australia twice (once away and once at home), New Zealand, Ireland, and the West Indies at home, and Sri Lanka and South Africa in a tri-series on the island. Players benefited from increased support from the Centre of Excellence. Regular camps were held, one very close to the World Cup in Visakhapatnam, where India would play two key games (against South Africa and Australia).

With more fixtures, an increased focus on fitness and power-hitting thanks to the blooming T20 arm in the women’s game, and the competitive impact of the Women’s Premier League trickling down to the domestic tier, India’s scoring rate also saw a massive jump, with nine of its 13 scores of 300 or more (before the event got underway) coming in just the last two years, a conscious switch in the era of high-intent cricket.

India also blooded 17 players into the team since December 2023, under Muzumdar, with players ranging from Shreyanka Patil to Kranti Gaud. Only two of them were mainstream batters. Of the 17, Kranti, Shree Charani, and Arundhathi Reddy made it to the World Cup squad.

As the youngsters came in, the senior players also found themselves given more responsibility. Smriti Mandhana became an active part of the strategy team. Jemimah Rodrigues, too, played a role in keeping spirits high and setting a fitness standard the team could emulate. After years of division and friction, a united front emerged, armed with a seamless chain of command.

Surely, it was India’s World Cup to lose. Particularly at home.

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After a rollercoaster ride of a campaign that saw it stutter more than it should have, India made the summit clash for the third time in the tournament’s history. It was the first time England or Australia would not feature in a Women’s ODI World Cup final.

Come November 2, the Women in Blue would shut out the testing impatience of a rain delay, a tough opponent in the Proteas, and even a pulsating atmosphere in a packed D.Y. Patil Stadium at times, to finally close out an achingly longstanding piece of unfinished business — a conquest of the world.

India started with two victories, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Guwahati and Colombo, respectively. The results were as predicted, but the labour needed to secure them wasn’t. Though India expected it would coast through against these ‘weaker’ sides, the host was handed multiple reality checks when its top and middle order faltered. India’s lower order had to pick up the pieces of a shattered batting essay and make it competitive.

The issues were basic – a high dot-ball percentage, a tendency to cede control of momentum right after the PowerPlay, and a struggle to rotate strike. With more prolific batting opponents waiting, coach Muzumdar looked visibly pensive even after India skittled Pakistan for 159 in a chase of 248.

Against the Proteas, India huffed and puffed again to manage 251. The top six couldn’t find rhythm after the PowerPlay, with left-arm spin once again hurting the side. Like Inoka Ranaweera and Sadia Iqbal before, Chloe Tryon and Nonkululeko Mlaba proved tricky.

After a worrying 127 dots against Sri Lanka and 173 against Pakistan, India racked up 185 against South Africa. A lower-order rescue followed once more, built on the back of Richa Ghosh’s 77-ball 94.

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The bowlers set India up for assured victory. The first four Protean wickets fell for just 58 runs. However, India perhaps got prematurely comfortable about a win that was yet to be sealed, and Tryon and Nadine de Klerk extracted a hefty penalty. De Klerk was a woman possessed as she smacked a career-best unbeaten 84 off just 54 balls to put a seesawing fixture to rest in her side’s favour. Gaud’s inexperience showed, and even the seasoned Sneh Rana and Deepti weren’t spared as the game slipped out of India’s hands.

Soon, Australia came calling. Asked to bat first again, India needed to fight to counter an Australian order that nearly bats all the way through. Smriti found form with a stylish 66-ball 80, while Pratika Rawal stepped up as the aggregator. But Smriti’s dismissal meant Pratika — a classically unrushed ODI player — paired with a slower Harleen Deol.

This wasn’t a new problem. Even in the series in the run-up to the World Cup, Smriti and Pratika scored at over six runs an over, while Pratika and Harleen managed just over four. Their collective strike rates hovered in the 60s, not ideal against top teams with considerable firepower in the batting order. So much so, it was beneficial for opponents to keep this pair in the middle rather than dismissing them.

Against Australia, cameos from Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah, and Richa Ghosh, and a massive extras count helped India to 330, 20 runs short of where it was headed.

India’s decision to stick with just five bowling options cost the side. Left-arm spinner Charani was the lone bright spot, showing immaculate control and aggression as she took three wickets for just 41 runs in a high-scoring match. Gaud was expensive, as was Sneh. India didn’t field Renuka Singh, as it would mean going in a batter short.

Since Muzumdar took over in 2023, India has preferred the five-bowler set-up while encouraging the top order to find skills with the ball. That experiment saw Smriti roll her arm in a few fixtures across both white-ball formats. Pratika, a handy off-spinner, was not deployed. Harmanpreet, a handy wicket-taker, too, didn’t take the plunge on a batting-friendly wicket as Australia registered the highest successful chase in women’s ODIs. Persistent slip-ups in the field did not help the home team’s cause either.

India, which had so far looked unconvincing in parts, was unravelling. It headed to Indore, needing a win against England.

A day before Diwali, the Indian management dropped quite a bomb by dropping Jemimah, who had until then returned scores of 0, 32, 0, and 33, to accommodate Renuka. India picked form over skill set, as Jemimah’s meticulous approach to grinding out runs would have solved India’s scoring issues at number 3.

The Renuka punt didn’t work, with England managing 289 courtesy of a brilliant 109 by Heather Knight.

Now a batter short, the Indian seniors needed to take responsibility, and they did. Powered by fifties from Smriti and Harmanpreet, India’s equation was a doable 23 off 12. But a familiar crumble ensued, with India falling four runs short.

This made the next fixture against New Zealand a must-win clash.

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India had a whole playlist of instances where the side looked solid in a game but botched the finish. The tear-stained faces of Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, and even a young and inconsolable Shafali Verma from that 2020 T20 World Cup final in Melbourne made an appearance in this mash-up.

With the pressure building, India made its way to Navi Mumbai, the unofficial hub of women’s cricket in the country.

India needed that, especially after the dressing down the side got from coach Muzumdar for making the same mistakes.

Smriti and Pratika exorcised their demons with a massive 212-run opening stand, which saw both openers register centuries. An explosive unbeaten 76 from Jemimah, who was promptly called back into the XI, helped the side to 340 in a rain-curtailed game.

India’s bowling was far too good for the White Ferns, with Renuka and Kranti leading the pack with two wickets apiece. That 53-run win (DLS method) effectively sealed India’s place in the top four.

The final league clash against Bangladesh, which was washed out, brought a devastating twist to India’s campaign. Pratika slipped awkwardly on a wet outfield and sustained a hairline fracture to the ankle.

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Around 290 kilometres away in Surat, Shafali Verma – who had been cast aside from the ODI setup for inconsistency a year ago – was in the middle of an imperious run in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy for Haryana. She didn’t even make the reserves listed for the tournament, but the management went directly to her, hoping to tap into her ache for redemption.

“God has brought me here for a reason. I will do my best for the team,” Shafali said.

South Africa had thrown the albatross called England off its neck in Guwahati and admitted to backing India to make the final.

In the semifinal, Phoebe Litchfield’s masterclass propelled Australia to a formidable 338.

The heroes of a stiff chase had to be the messiah of 2017 — Harmanpreet — with Jemimah, who looked in fine touch. The pair put their heads down, scoring at six per over at least, with the Aussies getting impatient for a breakthrough. The nerves of it all saw Healy drop Jemimah on 82. India needed 131 runs in a little over 17 overs.

However, Harmanpreet, Deepti, and Richa fell in quick succession, and an old tendency to fall like ninepins threatened to resurface. Jemimah, meanwhile, rang in a century, her first in World Cups, but refused to celebrate. The job was not done.

Tahlia McGrath then dropped a straightforward chance to give Jemimah another lifeline on 106. India needed 54 from 41 balls. The final few overs felt like a final rather than a semifinal, with Jemimah and Amanjot finishing the job with nine balls to spare.

The images of that finish will be tattooed on the brains of anyone who watched the game. A sobbing Jemimah, her teammates piled in a mound over her. Harmanpreet roared loud enough for someone to hear it on the moon: India had beaten the best side in the world. Surely this was the year!

Jemimah bawled her way through multiple interviews, revealing her struggles with anxiety and the devastation of getting dropped midway through the tournament. She spoke about crying to her mother and close teammates every day and needing to do something for India to trust that she belonged on the biggest stage.

“We were talking about what we could all do better in this World Cup, and all I said was that I wanted to be there till the end and finish the game.”

Jemimah claimed Harleen’s number three spot and made a fine case for why the position should be hers for the foreseeable future.

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Eight games, three losses, and countless lessons later, India had found what was potentially its best eleven of the tournament. It was time now to go all the way.

A two-hour delay potentially ate into the anxious build-up for both India and South Africa. A maiden ICC crown awaited the winner of the contest. Laura Wolvaardt opted to chase.

Smriti and Shafali turned the clock back, but with an asterisk. The latter, as usual, played enforcer, but without the unnecessary risk-taking that had become associated with her. The pair blunted South Africa early on and put up a century stand. After losing Smriti, Shafali continued before falling 13 runs short of a famous ton. Deepti (58) and Richa (34), who was reportedly playing with far more serious damage to her finger than publicly known, carried India to 298. A steely Wolvaardt kept a boisterous 39,555-strong crowd quiet enough to hear a pin drop for large parts of the chase. An inspired decision by Harmanpreet saw Shafali being handed the ball.

With a lazy action and not much of an international record, she came out of the syllabus in South Africa’s biggest test. The side didn’t know whether to play it safe or attack. Shafali’s first spell yielded two wickets and the big scalps of Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp.

Wolvaardt’s partnership with Annerie Dercksen critically raised the collective blood pressure of all those present. While Renuka and Deepti were managing to bowl on the stumps to Wolvaardt, giving her no room for her vintage stroke play, errant lines helped Dercksen smash a few sixes. Deepti — who finished the night with a fifer — removed the Proteas captain and Tryon in the 42nd over to put India on top. De Klerk had pulled off a miracle before, but that kind of lightning was not destined to strike the same adversary twice, with India sealing its maiden World title at the stroke of midnight, with Harmanpreet taking a very Kapil Dev-esque catch to finally wake the sleeping giant of world cricket.

With the who’s who of Indian cricket — including Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Diana Edulji, and others — watching along nervously, Harmanpreet realised a dream 52 years in the making.

After an emotional embrace with Harmanpreet with the Indian flag enveloping both the senior pros, Smriti summed up India’s motivations: “The last T20 World Cup was a difficult one for us to take. We had a clear focus on working on our fitness, working on each and every aspect. The way everyone just stuck in and played — in a World Cup like this, everyone was there for each other.”

Historic triumphs can push post-mortems down the priority list, but this Indian team knows better than to not evaluate. It experimented till the end, with far too much risk involved in those punts not working.

This has undoubtedly been India’s most prolific tournament with the bat, with an average of 41 runs per wicket and a scoring rate of over six runs an over. That said, strike rotation, scoring rates, and fielding need serious work.

There is also the big leadership question facing the Indian setup. Is it time to hand Smriti, the vice-captain, the reins of the team? Can the most united Indian setup finally ace a power transfer? Can mental health support finally become a permanent part of India’s support cushion?

As world champion, efforts to polish how the women’s setup looks in India will bring all these questions and more. But for now, the party won’t stop, and rightly so. This Indian team is not the future of women’s cricket. It is the present, and it is just getting started!

Published on Nov 05, 2025