New Delhi: India’s women’s cricket team has etched its name in history by clinching the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025, defeating South Africa by 52 runs in the final at Navi Mumbai.
Behind this triumph lie inspiring tales of perseverance, where players from modest backgrounds overcame financial hardships and societal barriers, supported by dedicated families.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, whose leadership steered the team to glory, hails from a family where her father, Harminder Singh Bhullar, served as a court clerk. Despite his own unfulfilled dream of becoming a cricketer due to economic constraints, he nurtured her passion, enabling her rise to international stardom.
All-rounder Amanjot Kaur’s pivotal catch of South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt shifted the final’s momentum. Her father, Bhupinder Singh, a carpenter, crafted a bat for her when boys excluded her from street games and ferried her on a scooter to training until she turned 18, even gifting her one for independence.
Spinner Radha Yadav, raised in a cramped Mumbai flat, saw her father, Omprakash Yadav, vend milk and vegetables from a roadside cart in Kandivali. Undeterred by limited resources, he made a wooden bat for her childhood games with the boys, fuelling her journey to the national squad.
Others include wicket-keeper Uma Chetry, daughter of a farmer; all-rounder Deepti Sharma, whose father is a Kanpur businessman; opener Shafali Verma, from a jeweller’s family; and Jemimah Rodrigues, guided by her cricket coach father. These narratives underscore how parental sacrifices transformed ordinary origins into extraordinary achievements, inspiring a nation.