Could India’s win for the ages redefine women’s cricket?

When Jemimah Rodrigues was trying to force herself into the India women’s side as a teenager, she cut out a photograph of her face and stuck it over an image of the national team’s jersey.

She told the No Balls podcast back in 2021 that she would look at it every single day for motivation, refusing to lose sight of the dream that started for a four-year-old girl playing street cricket with her brothers.

On Thursday, under the bright lights of Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, she played one of the all-time classic one-day international innings, in one of the greatest games, to lead India to a World Cup final at the expense of defending champions Australia.

It is remarkable to think that just 11 days ago Rodrigues was dropped for India’s group stage game against England, which they lost by four runs.

But under the highest pressure and against the world’s best, she finished unbeaten on 127 in a successful chase of 339 – a women’s ODI record – with each run greeted by a roar from a packed crowd that was witnessing history unfold.

Rodrigues sunk to the ground in exhaustion once Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary, unable to contain the tears as the magnificence of her achievement hit home.

She subsequently revealed in the news conference that she had “cried almost every day of the World Cup with anxiety”.

Known for her bubbly personality and infectious smile no matter what she does on the field, this was a different side to Rodrigues – one of grit and determination in an innings of pure class.

India and Australia have history in World Cups.

There was Harmanpreet Kaur’s unforgettable 171 at Derby in 2017 to seal India’s place in the final, and the near-miss in the T20 semi-final at Cape Town in 2023 as the same player’s bat got stuck in the ground as she was crucially run out.

These two teams had already played out the best match of this tournament’s group stage, with Alyssa Healy’s side chasing 331 on that occasion.

Thursday’s thriller was another example of India and Australia taking the game to new levels.

Phoebe Litchfield’s stunning 119 set up Australia’s 338, supported by half-centuries from Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner, as India were run ragged in the field.

At the halfway stage Australia’s eight-year unbeaten run at 50-over World Cups looked almost certain to continue.

However, such was Rodrigues’ brilliance – her speed between the wickets, her innovation by shuffling across her stumps, her pinpoint ability to pick the gaps between fielders – that the usually unflappable Australia were rocked.

Healy and Tahlia McGrath put down simple chances, and the team that had not lost a World Cup game since Harmanpreet’s epic were left stunned.

The batting was arguably of the highest quality that women’s cricket has ever seen – but of wider significance is what an India triumph at a home World Cup could mean.

They face South Africa in Sunday’s showpiece, meaning a new winner will be crowned for the first time since 2000.

Both finalists are chasing history – but an India victory could catapult the women’s game to new heights in terms of reach and investment.

“The pace at which women’s cricket is growing in India is unbelievable,” former IPL batter Abhishek Jhunjhunwala told BBC Test Match Special.

“Girls have started playing on the streets with boys, which you never used to see happen. They want to be a Jemimah Rodrigues or a Deepti Sharma.

“It is a proper career now for women. If India go on to win this World Cup, this will change women’s cricket. The game is growing rapidly worldwide but in a commercial aspect, this will change drastically.”

Around the stadiums in India, the shift is obvious in the sheer number of boys and men wearing shirts bearing the names of Smriti Mandhana or Harmanpreet, and the crowds have been electric for the hosts’ games.