Photo via Hindustan Times

Harmanpreet Kaur and the making of a winning habit: How India women's cricket travelled from survival to supremacy

Under the leadership of captain Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian women's cricket team secured an Asian Games gold medal in Nagoya by defeating Sri Lanka by a massive margin of 147 runs in the final. This triumph extends a highly successful era for the squad following their victory at Hangzhou three years prior, a recent Women's Asia Cup championship, and a historic ODI World Cup victory in 2025.

The journey to this current dominance spans decades, beginning with the formation of the Women's Cricket Association of India in 1973 and the team's maiden officially recognized international match against the West Indies in Bengaluru in October 1976 under Shantha Rangaswamy. Over the years, pioneers like Anjum Chopra, Mithali Raj, and Jhulan Goswami built international stature for the program, leading up to a major cultural turning point during the 2017 World Cup campaign in where Harmanpreet delivered a legendary unbeaten 171-run performance against in the semi-finals before the team eventually fell to England at Lord's.