Of the many reels floating on the internet after the Indian women’s cricket team’s World Cup victory, one features Amanjot Kaur’s parents on the day of the final, watching the match on television in a room full of family. As Kaur holds on to the catch that dismisses South African captain Laura Wolvaardt and the room erupts in joy, the two go quiet, their eyes moist. Over a decade ago, Bhupinder Singh, a carpenter, had not baulked when his daughter declared she wanted to play cricket. When the neighbourhood boys wouldn’t take her because she didn’t own a bat, he had carved her one himself.

Then there’s 22-year-old Kranti Gaud from Madhya Pradesh’s tribal heartland of Ghuwada, whose father led her to a cricket academy too, brushing aside whispers about propriety and a woman’s purpose. The y

See Full Page