Do India have lift-off? Is Australian dominance over? Assessing the Women’s Cricket World Cup

India ended their ‘home’ World Cup perfectly when they defeated South Africa on Sunday to lift the biggest trophy in women’s cricket for the first time in front of 35,000 people decked out in blue late in Navi Mumbai.

Here, The Athletic looks back at the tournament and what the host nation’s triumph means for the future of the women’s game.

Ready for lift-off?

It is impossible to exaggerate the impact of India breaking Australia’s dominance of women’s cricket and winning the 50-over World Cup for the first time.

The hosts’ 52-run victory over South Africa runs in a final delayed two hours by rain, with captain Harmanpreet Kaur lifting the World Cup as the clock ticked towards 1am in Navi Mumbai, will go down as the most significant result in women’s cricket history.

Just as Twenty20 cricket exploded worldwide when India’s men won the first World T20 in South Africa in 2007, now the women’s game can be expected to take its biggest leap yet towards parity, both financially and in popularity.

“Inspiration for generations to come, you’ve made every Indian proud with your fearless cricket and belief throughout. You guys deserve all the accolades and enjoy the moment to the fullest. Well done, Harman and the team. Jai Hind,” said the biggest star of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli, in a social media post that has been seen by more than three million people on X alone.

That victory for India over their great rivals Pakistan in Johannesburg in a format that, 18 years ago, had yet to fully take off in the sub-continent paved the way for the formation of the Indian Premier League, changing the face of the game forever.

India already has the Women’s Premier League (WPL) but it can be expected to attract far greater sponsorship and investment, as well as lucrative TV deals. And that will have a knock-on effect throughout the sport worldwide, just as the IPL transformed men’s cricket and turned the leading players into multi-millionaires.

The Indian women’s team, in truth, have been a sleeping giant since they lost the World Cup final to England at Lord’s in 2017, but they have fully woken up and can be expected to challenge Australia consistently to become the world No 1.

Life just changed forever for one player in particular. Those of us at Bristol in 2021 to watch England women take on India in a one-off Test felt we were seeing the emergence of a new superstar in the then-17-year-old debutant Shafali Verma.

Verma, now 21, has not quite hit the heights expected of her since and was originally left out of India’s World Cup squad. She was not even named among the official reserves.

But Verma was called up for India’s game-changing semi-final against Australia when Pratika Rawal was injured, before making a huge impact in the final. She made 87 against South Africa and took two crucial wickets with her part-time off-spin and ‘darts’.

Those in India for this World Cup, which was hampered by rain in both India and co-hosts Sri Lanka, noticed how many of India’s women players are now featuring in TV adverts and on billboards. Verma will be chief among them.

Is the era of Australian dominance over?

It would be premature to write off the juggernaut that is the Australian women’s team on the back of a World Cup semi-final defeat against India, but they are facing a watershed moment.

Australia were not their usual flawless selves in the field, dropping catches and looking sloppy as India chased their formidable target of 339, and they must now make calls on some of their most experienced players.

Captain Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry, both 35, and perhaps even Megan Schutt, 32, and Beth Mooney, 31, might have played in their last 50-over World Cup. Australia will need to decide whether any of their veterans should remain as the side’s backbone in next summer’s Twenty20 World Cup in England.

But while only Australia’s fourth defeat in one-day international cricket since their victory in the 2022 tournament was the end of one chapter, Healy remained defiant about the beginning of the next.

“The next four-year cycle is going to be really exciting for our group,” Healy, who was guilty of the worst drop of the lot against India to reprieve match-winner Jemimah Rodrigues, told reporters after the semi-final loss. “There will potentially be some exciting opportunities for younger players.

“This is just another re-ignition for our group to say, you know what, we can be better at little moments in the game.

“For our group to experience that, to now be under pressure and seeing how we respond, is going to do great things for us going forward. So that’s cool.”

Where is England’s rebuild?

England may look a little fitter after their athleticism was called into question by former player Alex Hartley as they were whitewashed in the Ashes last winter, but they have otherwise trodden water since former captain Charlotte Edwards became coach.

First, they lost under Edwards and new captain Nat Sciver-Brunt against India in both the one-day international and Twenty20 series this summer and now they have been upset by South Africa and their brilliant captain Laura Wolvaardt in the World Cup semi-final.

Edwards showed she is not afraid to make tough decisions when she jettisoned experienced seamer Kate Cross before this tournament and now she is facing more big calls for a crucial home T20 World Cup next summer.

Time is short for too much new blood to be introduced but Davina Perrin, who announced herself with a 42-ball century for Northern Superchargers against London Spirit in the Hundred last summer, can expect opportunities, as might others, including Essex’s left-handed batter Jodi Grewcock.

But the reality is that England still rely far too heavily on experienced players Sciver-Brunt and former captain Heather Knight with the bat, and left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone with the ball.

They need more from younger players who should be established at international level, such as Alice Capsey, Sophia Dunkley and Charlie Dean, who looks most likely to be the next captain.

Winning the 2017 50-over World Cup at Lord’s was huge for the women’s game in England, but cricket has fallen behind women’s football and rugby union in the spotlight because of the subsequent successes of the Lionesses and the Red Roses.

It is no secret that English cricket’s governing body, the ECB, wants next year’s World Cup to be England’s ‘Lionesses moment’, with the target of millions being attracted to the cricket. To achieve that, Edwards and Sciver-Brunt have some catching up to do.

“I’m a winner,” Edwards told a news conference after that shock defeat against South Africa. “I don’t like losing. When I came into this role, I knew it wasn’t going to change overnight. I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick fix.

“I’ve seen some really positive things come out of this trip and we’ve performed a little bit better under pressure, but certain moments we haven’t seized and that’s going to be an ongoing thing.

“We’ll go home and reassess and won’t make any rash decisions but we’ve got to look at the future now and we’ve got some unbelievable talent coming through.”

Is it now the big four?

A chasm remains between the biggest forces in the women’s game and the rest. But South Africa, with Wolvaardt making 169 against England and then 101 in a losing cause against India, can now justifiably claim to be included in a ‘big four’ alongside Australia, India and England.

South Africa reached their first World Cup final when they staged the women’s T20 event in 2023 — they lost against Australia — and then lost a second final when they lost against New Zealand in last year’s T20 World Cup final in Dubai.

Even though it was not to be third time lucky in Navi Mumbai, South Africa are now consistent enough to be firmly knocking on the door of tangible success.

Certainly New Zealand have stagnated since that win in the UAE, with Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine having now retired, and others like West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are some way behind in terms of investment and infrastructure.

South Africa, as a cricketing nation, will take great heart from reaching the final. They have had their challenges as an established international force but their men upset the odds in winning the World Test Championship at Lord’s last summer and now the women came just short of emulating them.

They will look to be challenging again in England next summer but they, along with all the others, know India will take some stopping on their path to becoming the biggest force women’s cricket has ever known.

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