Drenched in sweat, bawling joyously and hands folded in gratitude. The Sunday night images that sparked widespread celebrations across the country will now forever adorn the vestibule of Indian cricket corridors.It took a while coming, and now it’s here. And now that it’s here, what are we going to make of it? Can this coveted title do the same for women’s cricket in India and around the world what 1983 did for men? Can women’s cricket now add another layer to the sport being India’s greatest export to the world post turn of the century? Can Harmanpreet’s team make the coming generations fall in love with women’s cricket the way MS Dhoni’s men made a young India pick bat and ball between 2007 and 2011? There couldn’t have been a 2007, 2011 and 2024 without a 1983. In that sense, the possibilities around what 2025 can bring around are limitless.
The Indian cricket board, which did a fine job over the last five years in giving these women the confidence to walk an unhindered path, now has a larger responsibility towards its own creation.By bringing pay-parity to women’s cricket two years ago, allowing a T20 league to change the financial fortunes of women cricketers around the world and by laying a structure brick-by-brick for gender neutrality in sport to prosper, the BCCI had been busy doing seminal work. And now that India’s crossed the first big hurdle of knowing what success tastes like, it has become the cricket board’s greater responsibility to keep that work going.
The credit for that goes to Jay Shah’s vision that began with the push for equal match fees in 2022
Roger Binny
“This triumph comes at a time when women’s cricket in India is receiving the respect it deserves. And the timing is not a coincidence but the result of appreciating the work and worth of our women cricketers at par with the men. The credit for that goes to Jay Shah’s vision that began with the push for equal match fees in 2022. A watershed moment, this signalled the beginning of the transformation,” says former BCCI president and World Cup winner Roger Binny.Binny was in the chair when the groundwork to redesign women’s cricket first began. “Backed by decisive investments, launching the WPL on robust media rights, reviving red-ball domestic cricket for women, and adding age-group pathways like the U-15 One-Day Trophy and by acknowledging that pay parity wasn’t just a mere promise,” he adds.Binny will be the first to admit that the work can’t stop here. In fact, the only way forward now will have to be about building on whatever’s been done so far. The brand around women’s cricket got established in the last three years. The coming years will have to be around cementing its legacy.“For too long, endorsement deals for female athletes were token gestures, reserved for a few individual stars and often priced at a fraction of their male counterparts. This is now history,” says Vinit Karnik, managing director, content, entertainment and sports at WPP Media Southeast Asia.
Until now, only 5% of India’s total athlete endorsement pie came from female athletes and cricketers. After this victory, the 2025 edition’s data (that’ll come out next year) should tell a vastly different story
Vinit Karnik
“The financial windfall is not limited to the winning team. The victory acts as a massive proof of concept for investment in women’s sports infrastructure and professional leagues across the board,” he adds.The most immediate and tangible impact of this victory can be expected from advertisers as marketeers will now look to aggressively sign up women cricketers as brand endorsers, and that will only mean more sheen across the industry.
Poll
Do you believe this victory will significantly elevate the status of women’s cricket in India?
To quote BR Ambedkar, the progress of a community can be measured by the degree of progress which women have achieved. The word couldn’t have rung true at a better time.
