A Tryst with Destiny: How Harmanpreet Kaur’s India Awoke to a World Cup Dream
- At the center of it all stood Jemimah Rodrigues. Not just as a batter, but as the compass that guided the chase. Her unbeaten 127 wasn’t built on power alone; it was built on nerve.
At one minute past midnight on November 2, 2025, the ball hung in the air — briefly defying gravity and history. Harmanpreet Kaur steadied herself at extra cover, eyes unblinking, hands sure — she backpedaled slightly, then leapt at the right moment. When the ball settled into her palms, Nadine de Klerk was gone. The final wicket. The end of waiting.
And suddenly, India wasn’t just victorious. It was reborn.
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.” Jawaharlal Nehru’s immortal words found new meaning under floodlights and fireworks. A little past midnight, Harmanpreet’s India awoke — not to political freedom this time, but to a long-awaited sporting liberation.
A moment that comes rarely in history, when an age ends, and a nation’s soul finds utterance in the form of a World Cup trophy.
This was Harmanpreet Kaur’s tryst with destiny.
From Heartbreak to Belief
To understand this triumph, you must return to the wound that birthed it: Lord’s, 2017.
Chasing 229 in the Women’s World Cup Final, India was cruising at 191 for 3, victory almost assured. Then came the collapse — seven wickets for 28 runs. A heartbreak of nine runs, and a heartbreak of a generation. Harmanpreet’s fighting 51 wasn’t enough to stop the tears.
But that night, something shifted. The loss didn’t break them; it built them. From that defeat, Indian women’s cricket found its rage, its belief, its purpose.
That same summer, in the semifinal against the seemingly invincible Australians, Harmanpreet played an innings that became prophecy: 171 not out off 115 balls. Twenty fours, seven sixes, and one message — India had arrived.
It was women cricket’s Kapil Dev at Tunbridge Wells, England moment. A knock that shattered glass ceilings, inspired a generation of girls, and proved that talent needs only a stage.
Eight years later, that prophecy was fulfilled.
Two Dates, One Dream
For Indian cricket, certain dates transcend the scoreboard:
June 25, 1983 — when Kapil Dev held the trophy aloft at Lord’s — rewrote what a nation believed was possible.
November 2 or November 3, 2025 (depending on how much of a date purist you are) will now stand beside it.
Different venue, different team, but the same pulse: disbelief giving way to destiny.
Kapil Dev
MS Dhoni
And now, Harmanpreet Kaur.
India’s World Cup winning captains.
The Making of Champions
In 2025, Harmanpreet returned not just as a batter but as a leader of astonishing calm and clarity. Her 89 against Australia in the semifinal steadied the chase, but her masterstroke came in the final — handing the ball to Shafali Verma at a crucial juncture. Eight years ago, she changed the game with her bat. This time, she changed it with her mind.
Captain. Leader. Legend
Behind her stood a team of brilliance and belief. Smriti Mandhana opened with grace, building the scaffolding of India’s innings time and again. Jemimah Rodrigues brought the spark — her fearless batting in the semifinal a declaration that India no longer played in awe of its opponents.
India’s semifinal victory over Australia had already set the tone for everything that followed. But it was more than a win; it was a collective unburdening of history.
For those who watched it live, the night felt unreal — a kind of parallel universe where belief untied every knot of doubt. In homes across India and far beyond the DY Patil Stadium, eyes welled up as Amanjot Kaur’s three fearless strokes sealed the chase with nine balls to spare. There were cheers, but also quiet tears — of release, of recognition. For decades, Australian dominance had seemed immovable. That night, it wobbled.
That night, it fell.
At the center of it all stood Jemimah Rodrigues. Not just as a batter, but as the compass that guided the chase. Her unbeaten 127 wasn’t built on power alone; it was built on nerve. On running nearly three kilometers worth of singles and twos in sweltering humidity. On recalculating targets every over. On holding up her left hand like a traffic cop between deliveries, steadying the moment, steadying her team.
It was as if she was playing outside of herself — detached yet aflame, a young woman who had been dropped, doubted, and dismissed, now commanding the biggest stage with quiet fury. “I cried every day on this tour,” she would later admit. “This wasn’t to prove a point. This was to win for India.”
Beside her, Harmanpreet played the perfect foil — 89 runs of assurance, anchoring chaos into calm. Together they formed the eye of the storm, separating disbelief from belief, purpose from panic. Every run redefined the word possible.
When the final shot was struck, when the floodlights framed the faces of Smriti’s laughter, Deepti’s giggles, Richa’s tears, Renuka’s fists, and Harmanpreet’s release — the emotion wasn’t just joy. It was vindication.
It felt like the kind of win India hadn’t tasted since 1983 — part disbelief, part awakening. The 1983 team had once shown us what courage could do. The 2025 team showed us what conviction looks like.
Deepti Sharma was the beating heart. In the final, she produced a performance for the ages — 58 with the bat and 5 for 39 with the ball, becoming the first woman ever to achieve that double in a World Cup match. Her excellence threaded through the entire tournament, pulling India from the brink whenever needed. ndia surely has the most valuable allrounder in Deepti Sharma. She won the Player of the Tournament (POTT) quite deservingly.
And then there is Shafali Verma — the firebrand. Her 87 in the final carved through South Africa’s attack, and when the time came, her two wickets broke their spine. She didn’t just bat; she changed momentum. The Player of the Match (POTM) was deservingly hers.
Amanjot Kaur’s brilliance lit up the field — a flying catch to dismiss Laura Wolvaardt, and earlier, a direct hit that turned the match. Renuka Singh and Shree Charanee patrolled the boundary like sentinels, turning half-chances into none. Every player contributed to the mosaic of glory. And speaking of Shree Charanee — what a spell she bowled!
The Past That Lit the Present
This Cup belongs not only to those who lifted it, but to those who once played when no one was watching.
Shantha Rangaswami. Diana Edulji. Anjum Chopra. Mithali Raj. Jhulan Goswami. And many more.
The pioneers who carried Indian women’s cricket on their shoulders long before it carried them. They played for pride when there was no prize, for passion when there was no pay.
Today, their shadows stand tall behind Harmanpreet’s glow.
Sport endures through echoes — each generation answering the call left by the one before. The 2025 team ran with the strength of all those who ran before.
And what of the valiant South Africans? Their captain, Laura Wolvaardt, was majestic. Twin centuries in the semifinal and final. The tournament’s highest run-scorer. She carried her nation’s hopes with elegance and courage. On any other night, she would have been the story. But tonight belonged to India.
A New Dawn
From heartbreak at Lord’s to glory at midnight, Indian women’s cricket has completed its circle. The 2017 loss sparked a movement; this victory ignites a revolution.
The image of Harmanpreet Kaur lifting that trophy will live forever — not just in archives, but in the imagination of every young girl who once saw cricket as someone else’s dream.
For years, they fought for recognition. Now, they have rewritten the script.
As the fireworks faded into the midnight sky, a nation’s tryst with destiny was complete — not written in speeches this time, but in sweat, steel, and belief.
Ganpy Nataraj is an entrepreneur, author of “TEXIT – A Star Alone” (thriller) and short stories. He is a moody writer writing “stuff” — Politics, Movies, Music, Sports, Satire, Food, etc.