Call it a superstition or by any other name, number 13 is generally presumed to be an unlucky number. But to the Indian women cricketers it was the 13th edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 that provided the icing on the cake; the realisation of a decades-long dream. In many ways, the crème-da-la-crème was much like the historic day (June 25, 1983) when Kapil Dev’s ‘nowhere in the hunt’ unsung team gave a major push to cricket back home with a stunning showing that propelled India into the big league. It is likewise with November 2, 2025, which will go down in history as a momentous day for Indian cricket, thanks to the stunning exploits of Harman’s Angels (we can’t think of a better sobriquet to Kapil’s Devils). It was the providential third time lucky for Indian women. Poetic justice was rendered in Navi Mumbai on a magnificent Sunday after the ‘so near so far’ syndrome had jinxed the team twice over in the 2005 and 2017 finals of the Women’s World Cup. Meanwhile, unlike the men, Indian women had to fight two adversaries --their opponents and the naysayers. Their coming on top in the first category will hopefully silence the naysayers and the prophets of doom, once and for all.

Based on past performances vis-à-vis World Cup outings, India had the psychological edge while going into the championship clash considering that their opponents South Africa were in the finals for the first time and India was playing its third and that too on home soil. Now that Indian women have proved that they are second to none, including in the game’s shorter version, and once the euphoria sinks in, the players must start regrouping themselves rather than basking in the new-found glory. After all, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Towards this, they must hit the ground after they are through with a well-deserved break. It is quite ironic that the team began to blossom somewhere in the middle of the championship and peaked in the matches that mattered the most, the semifinals and the championship clash in which they came up with a clinical performance that dashed the last hurrah hopes of South African captain Laura Wolvaardt and took India to the pinnacle of glory.

Meanwhile, the BCCI has done well by announcing an overwhelming Rs 51 crore to Harmanpreet and her girls for lifting cricket’s most cherished trophy. Beginning tomorrow, the nation will be baffled to notice how opportunistically calculating can men players, celebrities and politicians be. The very people who shunned women cricketers all these years will go all out to be ‘seen’ with them and be captured in photographs with the newly crowned queens. A redeeming feature was at the DY Patil stadium that was packed to capacity. However, barring former India captains Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma, there was no celebrity worth the name to cheer for the Indian gladiators among the audience. It was only Sunil Gavaskar who pepped up the team’s morale while assuring a jamming session with the star of the semifinal conquest of defending champion Australia, Jemimah Rodrigues if India wins their maiden World Cup.

A touching moment in the post-match event was Harmanpreet’s thanksgiving bow to coach Amol Majumdar. Having scripted a new chapter after breaking the barrier, the girls must concentrate on consolidating their position hereafter. Diana Eduljee, was undoubtedly speaking for millions, with her remark, “I’ve waited for this since 2017... This is the 1983 moment for us...”. Hope springs eternal.