India, Nov. 6 -- Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana were among a select few who witnessed the heartbreak of Lord's 2017 up close and personal. The Indian women's cricket team, under the captaincy of Mithali Raj, had fought tooth and nail to reach the final eight years ago against England. They had only lost to Australia and South Africa in the league stage before scripting a memorable win in the semis against the Aussies. They had even beaten England by 35 runs; however, in the summit clash, India came up just a little short, going down to the hosts by nine runs.

What pinched the most about the defeat was that India were well and firmly in control of their chase of 229, until a late collapse robbed them of a World Cup win. They came ba...