BEYOND THE BOUNDARY

Cosmo cover star Harmanpreet Kaur, who captains the India women’s national cricket team, lets usin on living her dream, chasing the ultimate trophy, and her unending zeal for life.

- Maahi Shah

Cricket both a sport and religion in our country has given us everything we could imagine, and more. It's given us the big little moments that we will cherish forever-the intensely emotional ones, the ones that make your heart race a bit faster, and most importantly, the ones that make you believe in even the most unachievable dream. And all too rarely does one stumble upon someone who embodies this very belief.

Hailing from Moga, Punjab, captain of the Indian women's cricket team, Harmanpreet Kaur grew up amidst many gender stereotypes-no cricket team for women to begin with yet her heart and mind told her she would make it anyway. She convinced herself she would play for the men's team if it came to it. But not wearing the blue cap for India? There was little chance she was giving up on that dream. Since her debut for India in 2009, Kaur has seen it all the skimpy recognition of women's cricket, heartbreaking injustice, the game's slow but steady growth, and its appreciation in Indian households today. Kaur remains unapologetic about her love for the game, and it is her unabashed aggression, grit, and determination that led to her epochal unbeaten 171 against Australia in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in 2017, captaining Mumbai Indians to a glorious victory in the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) in 2023, and becoming the only Indian woman with more than 3000 runs in T20 internationals matches. She's living her dream. But she keeps chasing the one that remains unfulfilled-winning the World Cup for India-and she won't settle for anything less.

In a candid conversation with Cosmopolitan India, the Indian captain speaks of her biggest inspirations, toughest challenges, why she loves being a woman, and much more.

Cosmo India: How did cricket happen for you? Did you, at any point, think it was unusual for a girl to be playing cricket?