Sportstar Aces Awards: Former Indian skippers recognised for their role in shaping women’s cricket

Former Indian skippers recognised for their role in shaping women’s cricket

Ten former captains of the Indian women’s cricket team — Diana Edulji, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Sudha Shah, Nilima Joglekar, Sandhya Agarwal, Pramila Bhat, Purnima Rau, Chanderkanta Kaul, Anju Jain and Jhulan Goswami — were honoured with the Sportstar–Casagrand Standard Award at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2026, held at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Friday, in recognition of their collective role in shaping the journey of the women’s game in India.

The award was presented by Nirmala Lakshman, Chairperson of The Hindu Group, and Sumanth Krishna, Director of Casagrand.

For those who played in those early years, passion often had to compensate for the absence of support.

“Fifty years is a long time. Our journey has been a long one, and it was very difficult playing in those days,” said former captain Diana Edulji.

“People would say women shouldn’t play and that they belonged in the kitchen. But we survived all that. We played purely for the passion. We even paid our own expenses to travel abroad and represent India. Today, it’s a completely different ball game.”

For decades, the team competed largely outside the national spotlight. That began to change in 2005 when India reached the Women’s World Cup final in South Africa, announcing itself on the global stage.