On July 20, 2017, Harmanpreet Kaur played what was, arguably, the most important innings by an Indian woman cricketer. Her audacious 171 runs off 115 balls against heavyweights Australia in the semi-final of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup became the knock that made Indian audiences begin to see “women’s cricket” as what it truly is: cricket.

Almost 5,000 miles away from Derby, England, where Kaur was dismantling the defending champions’ bowling attack, 15-year-old Uma Chetry found her purpose. In her local club in Assam’s Golaghat district, Chetry got goosebumps just hearing the score. Between juggling school, farming duties with her parents, and cricket practice, she would watch the highlights on repeat. She declared to her teammates, “One day, I want to bat like that. One day, I want to

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