The Indian Women’s Cricket team has achieved a historic feat. Today, Indian women’s team registered it’s first ever ODI series win against South Africa, in South Africa, in the opening round of ICC Women’s Championship. Indian women were playing an international series after a gap of six months, however, they never made it look that way. It seemed as if they picked it (momentum) up right from where they left at the ICC Women’s World Cup which was held in England last year. We were worthy finalists and the way Mithali led the team through to the finals was nothing short of inspirational. And yet again, Mithali and her team have delivered the goods and we could not be more proud.

This Indian team has got a pretty good mix of youngsters as wells as seasoned campaigners. Smriti Mandhana surely tops the list as many have proclaimed her to be the next big thing in Indian Women’s Cricket. She has definitely matured as a cricketer beyond her age and this gives her an edge over her contemporaries. Deepti Sharma is another prime example of someone oozing with talent and it is only a matter of time before she creates a niche for herself in women’s cricket. The batting department looks solid led by the captain, Mithali Raj, who also happens to be the highest run scorer in Women’s ODI Cricket, besides having several other batting records to her name. She is the epitome of consistency and has been the lone flag bearer for long. Harmanpreet and Veda look almost set to take the baton forward and the flair and flamboyance with which they play their shots is what is most pleasing to the eye. Ever seen Harmanpreet dancing down the track, with her big backlift, coming down hard on the ball sending it over the boundary ropes and into the stands? It is a sight which cannot be matched.

The bowlers too have been up to the mark. We have, amongst our ranks, the top wicket-taker in ODIs and recently she became the first woman to breach the 200 wicket mark. Jhulan Goswami is a force to reckon with and has single-handedly won us matches on many occasions. Shikha Pandey is learning by watching her from close quarters and is growing by leaps and bounds with every game. The slow bowlers have done equal damage. Poonam and Rajeshwari have supported the new ball bowlers quite well. This looks a good package and they have been mighty effective. The bowlers have brought us back or turned matches in our favor on many occasions.

The onus is now on BCCI to promote women’s cricket. The team is doing their bit. Their performance over the past couple of years has been exceptional. It is the right time for the board to cash in and make the most of this uptick that is seen in women’s cricket these days. They can take a cue from their Australian counterpart on how they roped in players to get WBBL started. BCCI sure has the resources to do so and there have been talks doing the rounds of having a Women’s IPL but that’s about it. For now, it seems to be a distant dream. Till such a time comes when women’s cricket gets as much recognition and acceptance, let us come together and applaud the efforts that these women put in day in and day out.