Again in 2005, when Mithali Raj led India out within the last, many of the nation barely knew a Ladies’s World Cup was being performed in South Africa. The nation’s cricketing chatter revolved round Greg Chappell’s controversies with the lads’s crew, whereas girls’s cricket existed quietly within the shadows – in empty stands and forgotten scorecards.
The Board of Management for Cricket in India wasn’t even formally tied to the ladies’s aspect then. Minimize to 2025 – India are of their third World Cup last, this time at a roaring DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The tickets are gone. The stands will likely be packed, hearts beating as one – a far cry from these silent afternoons 20 years in the past.
In 2017, in opposition to England, they got here so shut. A couple of runs quick, a couple of tears too many. That night time at Lord’s broke hearts however constructed perception – perception that Indian girls couldn’t simply dream, however dare. That defeat grew to become a promise: we’ll return. Stronger. Louder. Unbreakable.
Now, in 2025, that promise stands getting ready to success. A house World Cup last. A sea of tricolours. A captain who wears her scars like medals, main a era that refuses to bow.
The 1983 triumph modified Indian males’s cricket eternally. Forty-two years later, Harmanpreet Kaur and her warriors have the prospect to do the identical – to show ache into pleasure, battle into legacy, and 2025 into the yr Indian girls’s cricket lastly takes its rightful place in historical past’s coronary heart.
MITHALI COULDN’T. CAN HARMANPREET?
In 2005 and 2017, India stood getting ready to glory – solely to look at it slip away in heartbreak. In 2005, Karen Rolton’s majestic 107 crushed India by 98 runs, ending a dream earlier than it might really take flight. But it surely was 2017 that left a deeper scar. Beneath the brilliant lights of Lord’s, Anya Shrubsole’s six-wicket storm tore by means of Indian hearts, as a chase that when appeared theirs unraveled cruelly.
Needing simply 38 runs off 44 balls with seven wickets in hand, victory had felt inevitable – nearly written in future. But, in a merciless twist, it vanished. For Mithali Raj, it was a second heartbreak, heavier than the primary. When she bowed out of worldwide cricket after India’s failure to succeed in the 2022 semi-finals, it was a quiet, aching farewell for a legend who had carried a nation’s hopes for many years.
Now, in 2025, the baton – and the burden – rests with Harmanpreet Kaur. Most probably taking part in her final ODI World Cup, the hearth nonetheless burns fierce in her eyes. The 2009 World Cup in Australia marked her starting; the 2025 version might outline her legacy.
For the primary time, she leads India on the grandest stage – and possibly, simply possibly, future will lastly smile. On Tremendous Sunday, Harmanpreet has the prospect to show years of ache into redemption – to raise not only a trophy, however the weight of generations who dared to dream.
END OF 20-YEAR-LONG WAIT?
As India stroll into the ultimate, a well-known ghost lingers – they have not crushed South Africa in an ODI World Cup since 2005. Again then, India dominated their first three conferences. Since then, the Proteas have struck again with three wins of their very own, each a quiet reminder of unfinished enterprise. In Vizag earlier this match, India have been inside touching distance earlier than Nadine de Klerk’s fearless flourish snatched the sport away.
However on this grand stage, the previous counts for nothing. When the primary ball is bowled, all of it begins once more – from zero. For South Africa, it is one other probability to chase historical past. For India, it is the prospect to rewrite theirs.
The stress will weigh heavy on each side – neither has ever lifted the trophy in a world lengthy dominated by Australia and England. However maybe the burden is heaviest on South Africa, getting into their maiden World Cup last.
For India, a win on Sunday would wash away years of near-misses and heartbreaks. It could flip ache into pleasure, doubt into future. Final yr, the lads’s crew rose from the sting of defeat to assert T20 World Cup glory. Now, it is the ladies’s flip – to summon that very same spirit, to struggle until the ultimate breath, and to make the noise of a billion hearts echo by means of the night time.
NO BIGGER MOTIVATION
For Harmanpreet Kaur, there is no want for additional motivation – none may very well be greater than taking part in a World Cup last in entrance of a roaring residence crowd. That is the stage each cricketer goals of, and for her, it is deeply private. India’s journey up to now has been something however easy. After three consecutive defeats, the crew confronted scathing criticism and the looming risk of an early exit. However as an alternative of crumbling, they selected to rise.
They shut out the noise, tightened their bond, and rediscovered their struggle. And when the second demanded resilience, they delivered in type. The five-wicket win over Australia in Navi Mumbai – constructed on Jemimah Rodrigues’ stirring century – wasn’t only a victory; it was an announcement. A reminder that this crew thrives below hearth, and that perception, as soon as reignited, could be unstoppable.
“Nicely, I feel when you find yourself at a stage like this, taking part in the ultimate match of the World Cup, I do not suppose there generally is a greater motivation than this. Your complete crew is totally charged up. They’re standing with one another and are giving one another prayers and blessings,” Harmanpreet stated within the press-conference.
“I feel that reveals how a lot this crew is with one another and the way prepared we’re for this match. Now it is solely about giving your finest, technique and every little thing. It is not that we’ve got reached the ultimate and we’ve got to do all this as we speak. Now we have been doing this from final two years,” Harmanpreet added.
Now, as Harmanpreet leads her aspect into the most important sport of their lives, the motivation is not revenge or redemption — it is pleasure. Pleasure in how far they’ve come, and perception that this time, they will go all the best way.
THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR PROTEAS?
Whereas the ultimate carries monumental weight for India, it means simply as a lot — maybe much more — for South Africa. This will likely be their third successive ICC last. In 2023, Australia denied them the enjoyment of lifting the T20 World Cup in entrance of their residence crowd. A yr later, in 2024, New Zealand crushed their hopes in DubaiOn each events, Laura Wolvaardt stood there – calm, unshaken, but heartbroken.
Within the ongoing World Cup, Wolvaardt has been the image of composure as soon as once more. South Africa started their marketing campaign with a 10-wicket drubbing by the hands of England, however responded in type with 5 straight wins.
They stumbled in opposition to Australia of their last league sport – solely to redeem themselves spectacularly. with a 125-run win over the identical England in Guwahati, powered by Wolvaardt’s chic 169 and Marizanne Kapp’s fiery five-wicket haul.
Now, as they face India within the greatest sport of all of them, the query stays — can the Proteas carry that confidence into the ultimate and at last script their fairytale? Solely time will inform.
MIND GAMES?
Earlier than the semi-final, Laura Wolvaardt had cheekily remarked that England would really feel the warmth in a knockout sport – and she or he was proper. England buckled below stress and went down with no struggle. Now, on the eve of the World Cup last, Wolvaardt has turned her consideration to India, firing the primary shot in what’s shaping as much as be a battle of nerves as a lot as ability.
This time, her phrases carry a well-known edge. She believes India has every little thing to lose – taking part in in entrance of a packed residence crowd, burdened by the load of expectation. It is a calculated transfer, a basic dose of pre-match thoughts video games aimed toward shifting the stress again onto the hosts.
“It’ll be a really thrilling alternative however on the similar time I feel it places quite a lot of stress on them as effectively. They’ve the entire nation behind them and are type of anticipated to win. I assume so. Yeah, I feel it type of performs in our favor hopefully,” Wolvaardt stated.
If the current previous has proven something, it is that Harmanpreet’s India does not wilt below noise – they feed off it. And are available Sunday, these phrases would possibly simply gas the hearth burning throughout the Indian camp.
The prospect to win a World Cup on residence soil does not come usually – and India comprehend it. Sunday’s victory, if it comes, will not be simply one other trophy within the cupboard; it may very well be a second that reshapes the longer term. A win in entrance of their very own folks might mild a thousand goals — in dusty maidans, slim lanes, and small cities the place younger ladies watch with extensive eyes and dare to imagine.
This is not nearly glory; it is about legacy. A triumph on Sunday might turn out to be the turning level – the second when girls’s cricket in India stops chasing recognition and begins commanding it. When the following era does not simply play the sport, however owns it.
India Ladies vs South Africa Ladies Head-to-Head
General
Matches – 34, India – 20, South Africa -13, No Outcome – 1
In World Cups
Matches – 6, India – 3, South Africa -3, No Outcome – 0
India Ladies vs South Africa Ladies: Pitch Report
The pitch on the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai is predicted to be a batting paradise, with a median rating of round 285. India as soon as piled up 340 at this venue in opposition to New Zealand and likewise scripted the very best profitable run chase right here within the semifinals. With loads of runs on provide, bowlers may have their work minimize out on what guarantees to be a high-scoring floor.
India Ladies vs South Africa Ladies: Match Particulars
India and South Africa will play on the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The match will begin at 3 pm IST.
India Ladies vs South Africa Ladies: Livestreaming
The match will likely be livestreamed on the JioHotstar app. The matches may even be broadcast on Star Sports activities Community.
India Ladies vs South Africa Ladies: Possible Taking part in XIs
India Ladies Possible Taking part in XI
Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur.
South Africa Ladies Possible Taking part in XI
Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Sune Luus, Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Masabata Klaas, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeuko Mlaba
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