Small-town India to cricket World champions: The women who made history

BBC:

Earlier this week, the Indian women’s cricket team made history by winning its first World Cup title, nearly 50 years after the side played its first international match.

The women fought hard for their win; after a three-match losing streak in the round-robin stage, they overcame external and internal challenges to defeat then un-beaten Australia in the semi-final and a resolute South African side in the final.

The grit and determination they showed on the field are reflected in their lives off it.

Many of the players come from India’s small towns and have had humble beginnings. They come from families that had to sacrifice much to support their dreams and believed in them when no-one else did.

These are women whose careers were built playing cricket in village lanes, with second-hand bats and seam-less balls and many doubting their ambition because of their gender. Theirs is a legacy that was forged because they kept going when it would have been easier to stop.