Another World Cup, another India-Pakistan match, and yet another familiar outcome. The pattern that began with the men’s World Cup in 1992 continues, and the same story is repeatedly unfolding in the Women’s World Cup. In the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, the India-Pakistan match mirrored the result of 2022 and the ongoing trend since 2009. Team India defeated Pakistan for the fifth consecutive time in the Women’s World Cup. The story of Team India’s victory this time was written by a 22-year-old player, playing her first World Cup, who was once discouraged from playing the sport.
22-year-old fast bowler Kranti Goud of Team India wreaked havoc with her bowling against Pakistan in this match. Her contribution began during India’s batting innings when, in the 49th over, the young player hit a boundary, and then again in the 50th over. However, Kranti’s real brilliance was to be shown in bowling, and she wasted no time in doing so.
Sharing the new ball with Renuka Singh, Kranti kept the Pakistani batters in check from the start. In the 8th over, Kranti dismissed Sadaf Shams to take her first wicket, and then in the 12th over, she sent Alia Riaz back to the pavilion. After this, Team India had to wait 16 overs for the next wicket, and once again, this success was delivered by the Madhya Pradesh-born pacer.
When the Pakistani partnership was growing, captain Harmanpreet Kaur brought Kranti back, and the bowler dismissed Natalia Pervaiz on the very first ball. Thus, Kranti gave away only 20 runs in 10 overs and took 3 wickets. For such an outstanding performance, Kranti Goud was awarded the Player of the Match award for the first time in the World Cup.
Kranti’s story is like that of millions of Indian women whose work has been questioned at some point. She is at least like thousands of girls who have had to endure taunts for playing a sport, and especially cricket. Hailing from a village in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, Kranti is the youngest of her 6 siblings, but she is currently the one shining the brightest for her village. However, there was a time when she and her family had to listen to the harsh words of the other villagers for choosing cricket. They were even told why she, as a girl, was playing cricket.
But Kranti got full support from her family, even when her father, who was in the police, lost his job. Seeing the elder brothers in her village playing cricket, especially fast bowling, Kranti also made it her passion, and then the process of learning cricket began. However, before getting the help of a coach, Kranti showed her talent in a local tournament.
In an interview, Kranti said that there were 2 teams of girls in the local tournament, and one of them was short of players. Kranti also went to watch the match, and someone asked her to play. There was no question of refusing, and what happened then shocked everyone. Kranti took 3 wickets in the match and also scored 25 runs, winning the Player of the Match award. From here, coach Rajiv Bilthare, who runs an academy, recognized Kranti’s talent and then transformed her into the player who destroyed Pakistan in Colombo.