India, Nov. 3 -- It wasn't so much freedom as liberation at midnight. Liberation from decades of ups and downs, of frustration and heartbreak. Liberation from years of being so tantalisingly near, yet so agonisingly far. Liberation from being second-best, from not being able to cross the finish line when it mattered the most.

As the clock ticked over to 00:00 and Sunday gave way to Monday, Harmanpreet Kaur fittingly held the catch that crowned India Women as 50-over World Cup winners for the first time. Through the simple act of grabbing the white cricket ball in front of 45,000 spectators at the DY Patil Stadium, among them cricketing superstars of the past, men and women, Harmanpreet helped script history and pen a new, glorious chapte...