Home World Cups are funny little things.

If you win them, the sheer scale of history achieved eclipses every misstep — big or small. For India, it was third time lucky. In 2005 and 2017 — the other two instances when the Women in Blue made the final — Mithali Raj led two different groups of dreamers who had the audacity to reach for success, but didn’t quite have all the tools in the shed.

Much behind giants like Australia, England and even New Zealand then, India’s tall aspirations vanished into thin air without so much of a whimper.

The 2025 bunch was battle hardened. The core of the side — skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma — had seen too many soul crushing reality checks across World Cups and novel global events like the Commonwealth Games. It explained the change in perspective when fighting for ultimate glory in front of the feverish expectations of home crowds. This side decided it would no longer wonder about victory. It would operate like there was no other conclusion.

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Late course corrections, and a bit of luck

India is a flawed champion. Losses to eventual semifinalists balanced by scraping through with some help from an abysmally large pool of washed out matches, particularly in Colombo, might not be anyone’s preferred survival hack. But India accepted every bit of luck it got. With crowds big and small across venues tirelessly working to get India’s campaign off ventilator support, India made the knockouts, with two games to prove that it was better than its recent results.

A five-wicket triumph against Australia orchestrated by Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur and a 52-run win in the final stitched by Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma’s all-round brilliance firmly fixed the crown on the nation’s head.

Could this run to ultimate glory have been less packed with a persistent tightness in the chest? Of course. India was initially stubborn about its playing combination and deficiencies in critical areas with the bat. A side that dropped spark for sustenance (Shafali) found itself doggedly defending stagnance which ultimately brought the three worrying losses. India had to admit shortcomings and eat humble pie for the cricketing Gods to bestow favour. The late course corrections were thankfully right on time.

Poor planning

The same can’t be said of what was a mixed bag of a hosting show by India and Sri Lanka. Scheduling games in wet regions during what have consistently been monsoon months ruined valuable opportunities for nations outside the top tier; going against the very purpose of a ‘World Cup”. Foreign players were dealt with the unsavoury experience of having their modesty outraged. Labelled isolated, the development led to a revelatory discourse on the overwhelmingly dire standards of safety for women in public spaces and who the onus of protection is on.

World Cups in India this decade have earned an unwanted reputation of being poorly planned. Venue and schedule announcements were fashionably late. England opened tickets and fan engagement opportunities for the Women’s T20 World Cup next summer before details for this edition were revealed.

Tickets selling for astronomical prices and on the black market are one of the old norms of consuming the sport in India, and it looks like it will wholeheartedly embrace the women’s game.

Through and despite all this, the stories of this bunch of trailblazers, who carry regrets of those before them and the aspirations of those who will follow, are what should endure. A team with seniors and youngsters taking baby steps in international cricket in equal measure, from urban and second-tier origins alike, have come together to hoist the Indian tricolour high. And thankfully for all watching, this isn’t the end of a long tale. It’s the beginning of an all new one!

Published on Nov 03, 2025