Thanks, the ladies in blue!

Can India seize the redeeming moments our women cricketers have provided?

Alok Tiwari

Last Sunday, as Indian women’s cricket team lifted the World Cup, it virtually raised from dead the cricket fan in me. It brought back, even if fleetingly, some of the innocent purity that most of us used to enjoy about the game. As the long-denied team found its moment, the game too found its soul. The spirit that brought together a diverse set of people who found common sentiments in the win or loss of the national team. There was a time like this, I knew part from memory and part from folklore, about the hockey team. That era had ended before the time I can remember, existing only in the memory of old timers or nostalgic newspaper pieces.

Cricket took some time taking its place. But it eventually did and how. Indian men’s cricket team may never have dominated the game the way Indian hockey team did but India as a nation has been dominating the game itself for past couple of decades. Hockey never saw a time when much of the game’s revenue came from India or when Indians had any say in running the game internationally. Cricket’s rise that was triggered with India winning the Prudential Cup in 1983 came of age with the country hosting 1987 Reliance Cup to the present when India’s writ runs unquestioned. I do not know whether it is good or bad, but it is there.

I have never been a hardcore cricket buff. I will draw a blank if you ask me arcane statistics or even performances of star players. I might remember a few iconic moments but not much beyond. My relationship with the game has been of an average Indian, more patriotic than academic. Not for me the nuances of line and length or the importance of back lift when executing a drive. If India is playing, I would be interested. Sometimes I might sit in front of the TV for a game but would mostly be interested in knowing the score. Not even that much if India has no chance of winning.

In recent years though that tenuous relationship also seemed to have declined. Some of it has to do with the nature of the game itself. The era of Indian domination has coincided with the era of extreme commercialisation. Now there is cricket round the year. Players are auctioned for crores in IPL. The stars are billionaires. Often it is difficult to know who exactly is running the game and for whom. This has been a bit confusing for an average fan and alienating.

Thanks to mega bucks involved and some known and unknown scandals, the game suddenly seemed about so many more interests than just what happens on the field. Lately, it also became a symbol of things that are going or have gone wrong. Hyper-nationalism engulfing all aspects of life has not left cricket untouched. It is one thing to enjoy the traditional rivalry of India and Pakistan and another to see the game as a war. First refusing to play Pakistan, then playing them but going through the charade of not shaking hands. Then somebody making off with the trophy itself reduced the game to a farce.

Seeing fans turn into trolls has also been off-putting. Every player in every game goes through good and bad patches but never before has their religion been brought into discussion. Now it seems par for the course. Frankly, the rise of Jay Shah as India’s and world’s new cricket supremo itself is a sad story. It is now more about power and politics than ever before.

It has also been the case of aur bhi dukh hain zamane mein mohabbat ke siva. At a time when democracy itself seems under siege, it is difficult to get too concerned about just a game. But then last week the women in blue managed to produce a few moments that made cricket once again a point of inspiration as well as hope. They provided occasions and reasons about why we need to feel optimistic again.

It began with Jemimah Rodrigues silencing the bigots with a performance for the ages. After the hate, mistreatment, and abuse her family and she had to undergo she had every excuse to just wilt and disappear. But that she found in the depths of her despair the strength to produce a match winning innings is the stuff of legends. After coming true as an Indian she unabashedly and publicly chose to assert her identity as a Christian attributing her work to Jesus and Bible. Take that, haters, she seemed to say, and for once they just had to. It is dead wrong anybody be required to prove herself in this manner. But got to admit, it was awesome.

The spirit then continued in the finals that finally landed the team the coveted cup. At the midnight hour on Sunday, India rose above the petty considerations of caste and religion that it has of late found itself enmeshed in. The news was not that it produced moments that belonged to all Indians, but that it still could. That there could be ways in which bigots could be shown their place, and we can hope that the ugliness that has descended on us is temporary. That we can fight and win back the values that unite us rather than be buffeted by things that divide.

Maybe, it is too early to raise a toast to that. Maybe, it is just a false dawn. Maybe, I am seeing more in it than there is. Maybe, we will get back to being our hateful selves. Maybe, cricket will continue get richer and more soulless. Still, history will have to record that these magnificent ladies had provided the nation a chance to get back to a place where it could look itself in the mirror and not be ashamed. For that they deserve our gratitude.

This column appeared in Lokmat Times on Nov 6, 2025