India Women’s Under-19 World Cup Triumph Is A Sign Of Mega Things To Come For The Women’s Game!

Grace Scrivens somehow had an odd day out with the bat; the youngster chosen as the player of the tournament for her consistency flopping with the bat on this occasion, scoring just 4 in the high-octane final.

Her teammate Liberty Heap made a golden duck, lasting for no more than two deliveries. What’s more? Other than the 19 made by lower-middle order batter Ryana Macdonald-Gay, the English top scorer, Alexa Stonehouse made 11 whilst India offered 4 runs as the extras.

Still, a total of 69 required off 20 overs was never going to be tough for an India under Shafali Verma, who had just turned 19 a day ago.

In the end, India accepted the total on offer with glee, reaching the winning runs and with it, the mega triumph in the first-of-its-kind Women’s Under-19 World Cup trophy with 6 overs to spare.

Let that sink in.

At the end of the day, you just couldn’t say what hurt more; England getting all out for a paltry score and that too, in 10 overs in the end or the fact that the likes of India captain Shafali Verma not doing much with the bat when the attention of the wider world was on the Women’s game. This, mind you, happened on a day where the girls’ gigantically popular senior men’s team were playing a decisive T20I at Lucknow.

But do you know what? Eventually, it didn’t matter for India prevailing at the end, losing no more than 3 wickets in a successful run chase brought victory to the women’s game overall.

For starters that the revered International Cricket Council actually had the first-of-its-kind Under-19 T20 World Cup for the girls out there was massive news in itself. Never before had such a tournament happened for the young talents out there in the women’s game.

Now that there was one and hosted by much perfection by South Africa, India’s thumping of the English brought forth a really competitive contest. Just the kind of stuff one expects from a final contest.

But there were winners on either side, truthfully speaking!

The English captain Scrivens being acknowledged as the player of the series was no less different than being recognised as the most consistent performer of the series.

This was ultimately a widely-covered and importantly, televised series the end aim being to inspire even younger girls to pick up the bats, wield the cricket ball and pad up in the hope for a better tomorrow.

Moreover, a smashing win under the leadership of Shafali Verma, the youngest Indian on record to ever play a T20 international, was the icing on the cake.

The self-confessed Sachin Tendulkar fan inspired a band of young and promising girls, arguably stars of tomorrow, to a platform of reckoning that had the entire sporting world watching in deep admiration.

Anyone doubting the reach and impact of the women’s game should hit up Twitter and see the endless string of congratulatory Tweets flowing India’s way.

Well, it’s the power of social media and that of Cricket combined with women being the poster girls signalling an era of change whose time has come!

These are actually interesting times to be in Cricket especially if you are a women’s cricketer. Surely, everyone wants to match the level of a Perry, Lanning, Taylor, Matthews or Bates. Yes, all want to bat like Harmanpreet, Smriti and our Under-19 T20 World Cup-winner Shafali.

But don’t only focus on the contemporary names on the starry circuit for now is the time to appreciate the talent and the might of the likes of Sonam Yadav, Soumya Tiwari and Richa Ghosh, who could quite possibly be the heroes of tomorrow.

A win for India is actually a win for the women’s game on the whole.