India won their first Women's World Cup title on Sunday (November 2). Abhishek Mukherjee and Aadya Sharma examine what the win could mean for women's cricket as a whole in the country.
In June 2020, An Equal Hue report, co-authored by Snehal Pradhan, Karunya Keshav and the late Sidhanta Patnaik was published. It aimed to take stock of where Indian Women’s Cricket currently stood, and what had to be done to take it to the next level.
The first part under “India and the World” was the most obvious one: How to win a World Cup.
Five years on, that dream is complete.
Poetically, the report has Harmanpreet Kaur on its cover, celebrating in blue Women’s T20 Challenge colours, the precursor to the Women’s Premier League. Now set to enter its fourth season, it has had a significant bearing on India’s white-ball cricket, even as it positions itself among other leagues in the world, and looks to improve from its current form.
The WPL and the Indian team have a symbiotic relationship: the league played a part in shaping India’s strengths and arsenal, and will in turn benefit from the triumph of this World Cup. There will be an immediate impact on it: the next auction is later this month, and the next edition is likely to be in February. Expect the windfalls at the mega-auction to be keenly followed, and the Amanjot Kaurs and Shree Charanis to be amply rewarded, not just be given token contracts.
When the next season begins, it will be another chance for India to follow and connect with their newly-anointed champions, inside a formula that’s already reaping benefits.
The WPL has a five-year deal with Viacom18, the parent body to JioHotstar, running until 2027. It amounts to INR 951 crore (US$176 million) – roughly INR 7.09 crores per match. At INR 1.09 crore, Simran Shaikh – yet to play for India – was the most expensive acquisition at the WPL 2025 auction.
For perspective, it had taken a request from Shantha Rangaswamy to the Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi for the women’s 1984 home series to be telecast live in India. The Indian cricketers donned black armbands throughout that series because they were denied even INR 100 as match fees.
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But it won’t just be the valuation of the tournament that increases: expect the triumph to further raise the brand of household names. Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur already have IPL titles: now, RCB and MI’s much-loved fanbases are only going to further grow and diversify. But it won’t just be restricted to these five franchises (and the BCCI really needs to increase the number of teams): this World Cup win will help form a local connect for the heroes with their hometowns.
In August, Mithali Raj told Wisden Cricket Monthly that in Andhra Pradesh, the state association is already forming a local fanbase through Shree Charani: “We want to make her the face of Andhra women's cricket. So wherever we are trying to promote women's cricket, she's our face.” Now, with a World Cup winner’s medal, that impact could be even more pronounced.
“Ek chance sabhi ka banta hai”
When the Women’s Cricket Association of India merged with the BCCI in 2005, there was a distinct uptick in finances and resources. And while it didn’t immediately change how women’s cricket was still dealt with like an afterthought, it brought much-needed money into the game.
But that money needs to drip down to several levels, and starts with the very basic question: can all families afford spending money to kickstart their kids’ careers? And is the system rewarding enough?
Radha Yadav, now a World Cup winner, was not permitted to play cricket in the local nets of Kandivali. Her father was a fruit and vegetable seller, operating from the footpath. He just couldn’t afford the resources required for local training, let alone a serious career.
And that is where this World Cup could break barriers. At the top level, athletes are getting significant monetary boosts: there’s pay parity for match fees, the WPL offers financial security and the prize money has been extremely welcoming.
It is true that the Indian female cricketers earn the same international match fees as their male counterparts, but that comes with three footnotes. One, the central contracts for even Grade C male cricketers are more than the amounts for Grade A female cricketers. Two, the men play significantly more international games. And three, international games affect only the best twenty or so cricketers every year: it is not equal pay if the domestic cricketers are not rewarded as handsomely.
The success of this World Cup should galvanise state associations to invest in the game: set up scholarships and clinics, offer coaching and training and scout through the grassroots to build their ecosystem better.
At a higher level, similar to the Railways, Indian women’s cricket needs more public sector employers. With a World Cup now in tow, the BCCI may give the benefits a serious thought.
This is bound to succeed. From engineering to civil service, India has a thriving culture of coaching centres for careers that reap rich financial rewards for the successful. In a country like India, financial security from cricket will go a long way towards the uplifting of women and, in turn, society.
Also read: How the Women's Premier League catalysed India‘s historic World Cup win
Punam Raut’s 86 was the highest score of the 2017 World Cup final. Her father, a driver, had to bear the barbs of his daughter not choosing “a girl’s sport” and playing with the boys instead. Then came her marriage that kept her away from her cricketing aspirations. “Boys are free to do as they choose. No one ever expects that they will return from work and then cook at home, so why must you expect that of a girl?” she had asked.
The best answer to that question came from Raut’s former teammate Neha Tanwar: “In Indian society, we look at women with a certain gaze. Studies till a certain time in your life, then housework, then looking after a family. India is a male-dominated society. But I think people should see that women too can achieve something. Ek chance sabhi ka banta hai” (everyone deserves a chance).
That is what this World Cup has the potential to change.
No more adjustments
At the venues during the World Cup, a marked shift was seen: scores of SMRITI18 jerseys were being worn by spectators alongside the usual assortment of VIRAT18, ROHIT45 and DHONI7 tees. Probably for the first time ever, a female cricketer’s jersey was sought after the same way as her male counterparts. Speaking to vendors, it was a clear case of demand needing supply. People asked for SMRITI18 jerseys. Hopefully, that extends to more names in the future. Among the obvious ones would be HARMAN7 and JEMI5.
Navi Mumbai looked almost packed for the final, with a board reading “Sold Out” outside the gates. The final count was just under 40,000, an increase from the 34,651 in the semi-final that had in turn built on 25,965 at India-Bangladesh, the latter being the record attendance of a league game of any Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Very soon, the television numbers will be out for the second half, but early signs indicated that the tournament was already breaking records. According to JioHotstar and Star Sports Network, the viewership from the first 13 matches was at 60 million, a five-fold increase from the last edition.
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When the trophy was being handed over to Kaur, the cumulative views stood at 32.9 crores (329 million): only three countries in the world have more people. The number of people huddled in front of every screen is anyone’s guess.
More eyeballs mean more visibility, and in turn, more investment in the game. The next World Cup (T20) is less than a year’s time, but the effects of this visibility could be quite pronounced in the WPL to start with.
The India-Australia men’s T20I turned out to be a footnote when it coincided with the Women’s World Cup final. Compare it to the 1997 final, which had to be shifted because Doordarshan had an India-Sri Lanka men’s ODI to televise. Or to the 2013 final, which had to be played at Brabourne Stadium to accommodate a Ranji Trophy match at Wankhede. Or worse, the 1988 World Cup – where lack of finances forced India to not send a team.
It may change how viewership dynamics run in the country, where men’s cricket has long enjoyed uninterrupted monopoly. Now, a saturated audience may organically turn towards the women’s game and build a parallel space. In the past, there have been moments when women’s cricket had a breakthrough moment, but little sustained progress. This World Cup may change all that.
The world champions cannot revolutionise the stature of women in India or, for that matter, around the world. That will take a million hands and a great many years. But in their own ways, they have already created dreams and opportunities and careers in a country where women taking up sports is still being looked down upon.
Given India’s position of dominance in global cricket, there is every reason to be optimistic.
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