No good cricketing story is ever complete without the mention of the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground. Last week, the Home of Cricket, standing for 142 years and having written countless legends into its honours board, hosted its first-ever women’s Test between England and India, and it was the visitors who walked away with the historic win. The chips were stacked all in home team England’s favour but out of nowhere they were dismantled by a mammoth margin of 270 runs, by a spirited Indian team, that etched their names into the history books on a ground that had never before crowned a women’s champion. All-rounder in the team, Sneh Rana, shares, “Yeh ek aisi jeet hai jo itihaas ke panno mein darj ho gayi hai,” Rana says. “Jab bhi Lord’s mein ‘first team to win women’s Test’ likha jayega, toh bold aur capital mein wahaan ‘INDIA’ aayega. Isse zyada garv ki baat aur kya ho sakti hai.”
The 32-year-old gives a glimpse of what went behind the historic moment, “On the first day of the Test match, we all entered the ground as the Indian team, and the moment was one we had not felt before,” she says. “Ek khyal aaya dimaag mein, 142 saal baad is ground pe Test khelne ka mauka mila hai, jeet darj karke history toh banani hai.”
Then came the team meeting before the game. “All that we discussed that day was not strategies, not technical planning, but realising that we were about to make history,” she says. “Of all the Indian women cricketers who came before us, we are the lucky ones. So the team talk was simple: walk out onto the ground for the next five days, and enjoy it.”
Over the next five days, it was clear the Indian team was out to do something rare, something special, sealing the match in emphatic style on the final day. And the cherry on top: the first two names ever to go up on the famous Lord’s honours board belonged to two Indian players, Kranti Gaud, for a five-wicket haul, and Yastika Bhatia, for scoring a century. “When we came back to the dressing room after the win, the first thing we did was look at the honours board, at the names of Kranti and Yastika. Then Sachin Tendulkar, who was at the ground, congratulated us. We were just trying to sink in the moment,” she adds. “This will inspire so many generations towards women’s cricket, and towards Test cricket.”
