NEW DELHI: Harmanpreet Kaur’s lifelong dream finally became reality on Sunday night as she held aloft the Women’s World Cup trophy, leading India to a commanding 52-run win over South Africa in Navi Mumbai. The moment, decades in the making, brought with it not just victory, but a message, one she hopes will echo through future generations of young cricketers: “Never stop dreaming. You never know where your destiny will take you.”
In a video shared by the BCCI, Harmanpreet looked back on her earliest memories of cricket, playing with a bat far too big for her, one she had borrowed from her father’s kit.
“Ever since, as a kid, I started getting a sense of what likes and dislikes are, I’ve always seen a bat in my hand,” she said. “I still remember we used to play with a bat from my dad’s kit bag. The bat was very big.”
That changed the day her father cut down an old bat to make one that fit her hands.
“We used to play with it. Whenever we used to watch a match on TV, or watch India play, or watch the World Cup, I used to think, I need an opportunity like this. At that time, I didn’t even know about women’s cricket.”
What began as a child’s dream soon became a purpose, not just to don the Blue jersey, but to become part of something bigger.
“I was dreaming, when will I wear this Blue jersey? So I think this means a lot to me, a young girl who didn’t know about women’s cricket, but still dreaming, that one day, I want to bring that change in our country,” she said.
“And I think, it all shows that you should never stop dreaming. You never know where your destiny will take you. You never think, when will it happen, how will it happen. You only think, this will happen. So, I think, that was my self-belief, that this can be possible. And that exactly happened.”
Now 36, Harmanpreet admitted the emotions of the night were overwhelming, not just because it was a World Cup win, but because it was her World Cup win, the one she had spent nearly 20 years chasing.
“Personally, it’s a very emotional moment. Because, it was my dream since childhood. Ever since I started playing, it was my dream to win the World Cup one day. If I get an opportunity to lead my team, I don’t want to miss this opportunity,” she said.
“So, I said all these things from the bottom of my heart. And God heard everything one by one. It’s like magic. I don’t understand how come suddenly everything is falling in place. Everything kept happening one by one. Finally, we are world champions. I am feeling very relaxed, very humble, so grateful to God, for giving this team, which we have been dreaming of for so many years, and we are living this moment.”
The win also brought closure to a chapter of heartbreak that began in 2017, when India fell just nine runs short in the World Cup final against England.
“After the 2017 World Cup, when we came back, we were so heartbroken. We lost the game by a margin of 9 runs. We didn’t understand how that happened because that game was also fully in control,” she said.
But the response from fans, the welcome, the love, the belief, changed everything.
“After coming back, the kind of welcome and motivation we got from Indian fans, that shows that not only us, the entire country was waiting for women’s cricket to do something special for them. And special for the country.”
That journey, she added, wasn’t just about one team or one moment, it was about everyone who carried the dream forward.
“Everybody was waiting for this moment. And I think it’s because of everyone’s blessings and prayers that we were able to cross that line. I don’t think we were alone playing in the stadium. Everybody, the entire stadium, people who were watching us on TV, everybody came together to win this. Because it wasn’t possible alone,” she said a couple of days after joining the illustrious list of Kapil Dev, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to win a World Cup for India.
Agencies