NEW DELHI: Even before that magical Sunday night in Mumbai's suburbs, the Women's Premier League had already transformed women's cricket in India into a promising career path.

But from Monday morning, it became something far greater - a dream worth chasing for countless young girls whose parents once doubted the possibility of seeing their daughters wear the India jersey.

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And no one believes in that transformation more than Harmanpreet Kaur - India's first World Cup-winning captain - who now stands as a symbol of what perseverance, belief, and opportunity can achieve.

"We have been talking about this for many years - we've been playing good cricket, but we had to win one big tournament. (But) without that, we couldn't talk about change," Harmanpreet told the media after India's win.

"At the end of the day, fans and the audience want to see their favourite team win. It's not that we weren't playing good cricket, but we were waiting badly for this moment, and today we got a chance to live it. I don't know how to express it, but I'm so happy and so proud of this team," Harmanpreet looked composed but one could sense that she was going through a lot.

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"I'm just trying to express what I'm feeling. I am numb. I am not able to understand. He (a journalist) asked two questions; I answered only one," she replied when asked to describe that "winning feeling" after being on the losing end several times.

A glance at India's World Cup-winning squad tells a powerful story - of dreams rising from beyond the metros. In fact, only one player, Mumbai's Jemimah Rodrigues, comes from a major city.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur hails from Moga in Punjab, while her deputy Smriti Mandhana is from Sangli, a small town in Maharashtra. The hard-hitting Richa Ghosh grew up in Siliguri, North Bengal; Shafali Verma learned her cricket in Rohtak, Haryana. Deepti Sharma comes from Agra, Shreyanka Patil from Eramalle in Andhra Pradesh, and pacer Renuka Thakur from the serene hill town of Rohru in Himachal Pradesh.

For many of these women, growing up in small towns at the turn of the millennium meant chasing their passion without access to structured coaching or professional facilities - relying instead on sheer determination, family support, and a love for the game.

You always had to be that girl, who played with the boys and wished that her talent was recognised and the potential realised.

"I used to play with boys, and the school principal picked me up, and within a year, I started representing the country."

In victory, one needs to be magnanimous and the Indian skipper didn't forget her predecessors, whose also have been a part of this journey.

She acknowledged the roles of India legend Jhulan Goswami and Anjum Chopra, with whom the team celebrated the historic moment.

"When I joined the team, Jhulan di was my biggest support. She was captain back then. She always supported me in my early days when I was very raw and didn't know much about cricket," Harmanpreet said.

"In the initial days, Anjumdi supported me a lot. I always remember how she used to take me along with her team. I learnt a lot from her and passed it on to my team. Both of them have been a great support for me. I'm very grateful that I got to share a special moment with them. It was a very emotional moment," she added.

Staying calm when things were falling apart

India lost three back-to-back games against South Africa, Australia and England and there were apprehensions whether they can make it to the semi-finals.

But what struck with Harmanpreet was the collective calm in the inside amid cumulative chaos on the outside.

"The last month has been very interesting. It's very rare that things don't go according to your plan, and yet you stay so positive. We were really looking for this cup — that was something special in our group. Not a single player said, 'What will we do now?," she said.

"Everybody just thought, "It's okay." After losing the England match, we were really heartbroken. We were about to win that match, but we collapsed. We had seen this in the past. That day, (Amol Muzumdar) Sir also said, 'You can't make the same mistakes again and again. You have to cross that line'."

On a day when change became the buzzword, head coach Amol Muzumdar's words echoed in her ears.

"After that day, a lot changed for us. Every time, we cannot go on repeating the same things. We had to come with a strong mind. That night changed a lot for us. It had an impact on everyone," she said, adding that the team opted for methods of visualisation and meditation later on.

Shared heartbreak

They have been together in times of disaster and it was only fitting that Harmanpreet would first remember her deputy Smriti Mandhana in the time of triumph.

"I've played many World Cups with her. Every time we lost, we went home heartbroken and stayed quiet for a few days."

"When we returned, we always said that we have to start again from ball one. It was heartbreaking because we played so many World Cups — reaching finals, semifinals, and sometimes not even that far. We were always thinking, when will we break this?"

But then they had to shade their emotional baggages of defeats.

"We didn't want to look back at previous World Cups - we left them there. The new World Cup had just started," Harmanpreet added.

The journey of Indian women's team has just become and it promises to be a memorable one.

(With PTI Inputs)