New Delhi: The Indian lionesses have made every Indian proud by winning the World Cup title. As soon as India won the historic match by 52 runs, there were tears of joy in the eyes of every countryman. But this victory was not of a few months, days or hours, hidden in it were years of hard work, penance and yearning for victory.

First test played in 1976

In 1976, the Indian women’s cricket team played a Test match against West Indies for the first time. At that time there were neither that many Darshan stadiums nor facilities. When the Women’s Cricket Association of India was registered in the year 1973, the players did not have many facilities. Had to sew the uniform myself and had to survive by borrowing bat-pads from others. One had to travel in unreserved coaches.

…and the course of history changed

2006 was the time when BCCI took control of women’s cricket and from here the course of history changed. Equal pay policy and WPL gave new heights to women’s cricket. Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Anjum Chopra and Anju Jain actually increased the passion for cricket among girls.

Won the World Cup for the first time

Let us tell you that the Indian team has won the World Cup trophy for the first time by defeating South Africa. Shefali Verma and Deepti Sharma had performed brilliantly in the final match. Apart from these, Smriti Mandhana played a good innings. Earlier in 2005 and 2017 also, India had made it to the finals, but had to face defeat both the times. India has become the fourth country to win the World Cup after Australia, New Zealand and England.

This is not the end, this is a new beginning

After the match, Harmanpreet said emotionally that this victory is the beginning of a new era. We wanted to break this barrier and now is the time to make it a habit. “We will come back stronger in the times to come – this is not the end, just the beginning.” His statement shows that Indian women’s cricket has now entered a new era of confidence and continuity.