By Prakash Nair 
New Delhi, September 20: The crowd at the Arun Jaitley Stadium expected a contest. What they didn’t expect was to see India take the field in pink. It wasn’t a gimmick. It was a choice, tied to a breast cancer awareness drive, and it immediately changed the feel of the afternoon.
For Indian women’s cricket, this was new ground. The men have dabbled with one-offs, remember the charity kits but the women stepping out in pink for a cause felt more deliberate, more in tune with the times. Plenty in the stands turned up in the same colour, and for once, the shirts mattered almost as much as the score.
The Stakes Were Already High
Even without the jerseys, this match carried weight. The three-match series against Australia was balanced at 1-1. India have never won a bilateral ODI series against them. Not once. Today was the shot.
And it wasn’t just about history. The World Cup is barely ten days away. Every run and wicket here would bleed into the bigger stage. Win this, and India go into the tournament with momentum. Lose, and it’s another reminder of the gulf they’ve been trying to close for years.
Australia Do What They Do
The script, though, started sliding the way it often does. Australia won the toss, chose to bat, and by the time 31 overs were done, they were already 230 for 2.
Beth Mooney was batting like she was on fast-forward, past her half-century with barely a fuss. Ellyse Perry gave them the kind of foundation only she can, calm, unhurried, efficient. India’s lone moment of joy was Sneh Rana nicking off Georgia Voll, but beyond that, it was heavy going.
On this pitch, with the outfield running quick, a total around 350 looked very much alive. For a series decider, that’s the kind of number that crushes nerves before the chase even begins.
More Than Cricket
Still, the pink kits refused to fade into the background. They weren’t a distraction; they were the story alongside the cricket. Breast cancer kills more women in India than any other cancer, and the silence around it often arrives earlier than the diagnosis. By stepping out in pink, this team made sure the silence wasn’t total.
For Harmanpreet Kaur and her players, though, the day had to balance two fronts play for a cause and play for history. A victory would tick both boxes, awareness and achievement. A defeat, however, would sting, because Australia are not just any opponent. They’re the mountain India have been climbing for decades.
Whatever the outcome, September 20 won’t just be logged as another ODI. It will be remembered as the day the Indian women chose to fight on two fronts, the scoreboard and society, and refused to back down on either.
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- Prakash Nairhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/prakash/
- Prakash Nairhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/prakash/
- Prakash Nairhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/prakash/
- Prakash Nairhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/prakash/
