“Na lega koi panga, kar denge hum danga/ Rahega sabse upar, humara tiranga”.

Rhyming panga, danga and tiranga in a ditty might have lacked the gravitas of India’s “stroke of midnight, tryst with destiny” origins. But perhaps Jawaharlal Nehru would have viewed this steely-nerved team song with indulgence. More in sync with the Hinglish-spouting Gen Z, the Jemimah Rodrigues-led band was letting off steam at nearly 2 am post the final, having lived with these words inside them till they delivered a Women’s World Cup to a doubting India.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur looked straight into the camera and sang, “Our future is bright”. She knew how life might have panned out, had India not won. After four World Cup exits, she was aware that, had they lost to South Africa in the final, even cutting a

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