India didn't qualify for the first Women's ODI World Cup 52 years ago since the nation didn't have a women's team at the time, but the Women In Blue have now brought the title home. The number 52, which was also the margin of victory when India defeated South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium to end their protracted wait, adds a whole new flavour in the historic triumph.
It is impossible to minimise the significance of the victory, not only for the women who were on the field, but also for the thousands of girls aspiring to become a cricketer in the future. The victory is also a reflection of the relentless efforts put by the former stars, whose combined efforts helped the sport reach this point.
The players realised this when they included three cricketing icons, Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, and Anjum Chopra, in their celebration. But the fight for Indian women's cricket has a much longer history, with tales of players having to contend not only with rival teams but also with forces that didn't want them to succeed in the male-dominated sport.
Fans were undoubtedly reminded of how far the game has come, and it is impossible to evaluate India's World Cup success without taking into account the positive and negative context around it. Even in the present day, former Indian captain Diana Edulji, who captained the team from 1978 to 1993, has never shied away from confronting the cricket establishment and denouncing their misogynistic policies.
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“I’ve always been a BCCI basher, right from the day women’s cricket came into the BCCI fold in 2006,” Edulji made this statement at an Indian Express event in 2017 after India's devastating defeat in the ODI World Cup final. “BCCI is a very male chauvinist organisation. They never wanted women to dictate terms or get into this thing. I was very vocal from the start of my playing days. Even now, I would still say that it is not yet well accepted within BCCI that women’s cricket is doing well,” Edulji had expressed.
The Supreme Court would also select the former Indian captain to the BCCI Committee of Administrators, where she worked to alter the nation's perception of women's cricket from the top. This included confronting individuals like former BCCI president N Srinivasan, who she informed told her that women's cricket was not even on his agenda.
“It is very difficult for them to accept the fact that this team has done very well,” Edulji had explained. “When Mr Srinivasan became president, I would like to say that I went to congratulate him at the Wankhede Stadium (after the men’s team’s 2011 World Cup win). He said, ‘If I had my way, I wouldn’t let women’s cricket happen’. He hates women’s cricket.”
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Eight years after Edulji exposed Srinivasan's remarks and highlighted the obstacles women's cricket has encountered, things have improved. The match fee for the national team is the same for both men and women cricketers and BCCI also has started an IPL-esque Women's Premier League (WPL).
This World Cup victory is just the most recent accomplishment in a trend that needs to continue at all levels of Indian sport.
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