The 2025 ODI World Cup triumph, with Harmanpreet Kaur lifting the golden urn in Mumbai against South Africa, marked a watershed moment for women's cricket in India. It was a dream deferred for nearly a decade since that heartbreaking final loss to England in 2017. Yet the journey to that moment was anything but straightforward, and Her Story, Her Glory does commendable justice to every step of that long, winding road.
Setting the Stage
The book traces women's cricket all the way back to pre-independence India, shining a much-needed light on pioneers who set the ball rolling but have since faded into obscurity. Aloo Bamjee, who established the first women's cricket club Albees in 1969, and MK Sharma, who founded the Women's Cricket Association of India in 1973, receive their rightful acknowledgement here. These are names that deserve to be remembered, and the book ensures they are.
The Trailblazers
The documentation of Diana Edulji's contributions is among the book's finest passages. One particularly moving anecdote recounts how, during a 1976 Test match between India and West Indies in Delhi, Diana Edulji approached the Rail Minister to secure a railway job for herself, as her father was a railway employee and was on the verge of retirement. The minister obliged and in doing so, unknowingly stitched the railways into the fabric of women's cricket in India for generations to come.
Equally stirring is the account of Edulji leading a protest at a World Cup, with the team refusing to take the field until players' pending dues were cleared. These were not mere gestures; they were acts of courage that defined the culture of resistance within the women's game.
The Struggles Behind the Spotlight
The book does not flinch from documenting the hardships. Players being stopped by security while heading to the 1997 World Cup presentation ceremony - a tournament in which India were semi-finalists - is as absurd as it is heartbreaking.
More remarkable still is the story from 1979, when players had to arrange their own funds for a tour of Europe, the West Indies and the USA. When the WCAI attempted to have the funds deposited with them, the players declined - a quiet act of defiance that led to the tour being classified as unofficial, with the team competing under the name India Women's Club.
These stories are not footnotes; they are the spine of the book.
Milestones Along the Way
The narrative smartly marks the turning points in the journey. The year 2006 emerges as a landmark when India defeated England in Tests for the first time and clinched the Asia Cup, while the BCCI announced cash prizes for players, signalling a slow but meaningful shift in institutional recognition. Fast forward to the present, and the WPL now contributes roughly 3.9% of the BCCI's annual revenue, a figure that speaks volumes about how far the commercial landscape has evolved.
Craft and Authenticity
What makes Her Story, Her Glory an engaging read is its narrative clarity. The writing is straightforward without being simplistic, blending statistics with anecdote in a way that never feels laboured. The inclusion of player interviews adds a layer of authenticity.
Final Word
Her Story, Her Glory earns its place alongside celebrated works on women's cricket in India such as The Fire Burns Blue and Free Hit. It is equal parts tribute and testimony - a reminder that women's cricket is not a recent phenomenon generously gifted by administrators, but a movement built brick by brick by women who played despite the system, not because of it. The glory was always there. It just needed to be found.
My Rating:
3.5/5
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