New Delhi: Social media is hailing India’s 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup triumph as the dawn of a new era for women’s cricket. Yet few realise that this moment was built on foundations laid long ago. A journey that began in 1973 and continued over the next decades culminated in Sunday’s historic victory.
2025’s World Cup glory belongs not only to those who lifted the trophy but also to the generations of women who, over past five decades, have fought to keep the game alive at the national and international levels, laying the foundation for this historic moment.
Former Indian women’s cricket team captain Shantha Rangaswamy said that it would be “selfish” to compare the accomplishments of the 1970s with those of the current generation. However, Rangaswamy, who led the team in the late 1970s and early 1980s, emphasised that the pioneering contributions in her era will always remain an integral part of women’s cricket history.
“No one can take away our credit…There were no benefits and no returns. It was our sheer love and passion for the game,” Shantha Rangaswamy told ThePrint. “We laid a solid foundation for women’s cricket, on which this current superstructure has been built, and today, we have won the World Cup.”
India’s women cricketers had fought countless battles both on and off the field before Harmanpreet Kaur’s team lifted the ODI World Cup Sunday night. Pioneers such as Diana Edulji and Shantha Rangaswamy, the first Indian woman cricketer to score a Test century, played at a different time. Back then, women’s cricket in India had minimal funding, visibility, or basic facilities.
The women cricketers travelled in second-class trains and slept near washrooms, and used discarded kits to play the game they loved. But there were no cash rewards or sponsorships to acknowledge their dedication.
Then came the likes of Jhulan Goswami, India’s fastest female bowler and the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs, and Mithali Raj, the world’s leading run-scorer in the format, who carried that legacy forward.
They came close to lifting the World Cup twice—first in 2005, and once again, in 2017, but luck wasn’t on their side. What they achieved, though, was inspiring a generation to dream of breaking boundaries in international cricket.
Celebrating the 2025 World Cup win on social media Monday, author Niranjan Rajadhyaksha posted a 1973 picture of the Indian women’s cricket squad. His sister, Mukta Rajadhyaksha, was a part of the 1973 team.
“Congratulations to the incredible women in blue. Here is a photo from the early days of Indian women’s cricket—the Mumbai team led by Neeta Telang, circa 1973,” Niranjan Rajadhyaksha posted. “My sister Mukta is standing third from the left.”
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A promise
When Kaur’s squad lifted the World Cup, it wasn’t just their win but the fulfilment of decades of hard work by the women who came before. The veterans walked, so the current team could run and run fast.
In the middle of the victory lap, Harmanpreet Kaur and vice captain Smriti Mandhana shared a five-minute-long hug with Jhulan Goswami. The video went viral on social media.
Later, in a heartfelt chat with Star Sports, Jhulan Goswami shared that both Kaur and Mandhana had made a promise to her long before the finals. When they embraced her after lifting the trophy, they said, “Didi, we did it for you.”
“You know what, before this World Cup, they promised me that they would do it for me. In 2022, we couldn’t qualify for the semifinals. After that, Harman and Smriti came to my room at midnight, and they said that ‘we don’t know if you will be there in the next World Cup, but we will win that trophy for you’,” said Jhulan Goswami, the first Indian woman to take 200 wickets in ODIs while representing the country in 200+ ODIs and 70+ Tests.
After the team handed over the trophy to Mithali Raj Sunday night, she was visibly emotional. Lifting the cup over her head, she said, “Thank you.”
Mithali Raj is often called the first star of Indian women’s cricket. Having represented India in 333 matches across formats, she scored 10,868 runs.
The team enjoyed remarkable success under Mithali Raj’s captaincy from 2004 to 2022. She led India to two ODI World Cup finals—in 2005 and 2017— and recorded 109 international wins across formats.
Under her leadership, India clinched its first Test series victory in England, secured back-to-back Asia Cup titles, and saw women’s cricket flourish. Mithali Raj, individually, broke multiple records, becoming only the second captain to win 100 international matches and the most-capped captain in Women’s World Cup history.
Former India captain Anjum Chopra was also present with the World Cup winners. Chopra, the first Indian woman to score an ODI century against England, joined their celebrations on the field, as well.
Away from the spotlight
Cricket expert and author R. Kaushik noted that the women cricketers of the 1970s rarely get the recognition they deserve, despite laying the game’s foundation in India.
“Even icons, like Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, were following in the footsteps of pioneers, like Diana Edulji. Their contribution was massive,” he said, adding that women’s cricket didn’t even come under the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) until 2006.
Former cricket player Gargi Raut, now a sports journalist, echoed the sentiment, giving full credit to the 70s stalwarts for carving a path for future generations.
“If it wasn’t for the legends who have come before, who played without audiences, away from the spotlight, somewhere in the shadows, women’s cricket wouldn’t be where it is today. Watching Harmanpreet and Co. lift the trophy must have been surreal. This World Cup is as much theirs,” Raut said.
Shantha Rangaswamy, under whose captaincy India registered its first-ever Test win in November 1976 against the West Indies, revealed that in the 70s, women didn’t just take up cricket but also ventured into football.
“But where is women’s football today?” Rangaswamy questioned.
“It faded away, but cricket didn’t, because we performed,” she added. “Our foundation was so strong that it couldn’t be demolished.”
Commenting on the post-2006 period, Gargi Raut credited Sharad Pawar and Jay Shah for their roles in strengthening women’s cricket under the BCCI umbrella.
Speaking about the future, Raut described the 2025 ODI World Cup victory as “the bedrock of transformation for the sport”, expressing hopes that it would not only make women’s cricket commercially sustainable but also widen the talent pool at the grassroots level.
“Parents will no longer hesitate to send their daughters to play,” Raut said. “The visibility of cricket as a legitimate career option will change how parents perceive the sport.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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