For Reddy, Rodrigues and their teammates, 2011 felt like an inheritance—proof that inspiration has no gender, and that possibility, once glimpsed, can be claimed. Now, standing on the cusp of their own defining moment, they are in a position to ignite the dreams of countless young girls who will look up, watch and believe.

The Women’s ODI World Cup returns to India after 12 years. In 2013, you could barely tell a Women’s World Cup was in town—little branding, botched anthems and a home team that didn’t make it past the league stages. The present hums with possibility, and waits to roar.

For Jhulan Goswami, the difference is stark. The world’s highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs was part of that 2013 campaign. “The loss really shook us up,” she remembers. “Once it was over, somehow, we all got scattered. We, the Indian team members, didn’t speak to each other for two or three months. We didn’t want to meet anyone or face the public. We felt like we had let everyone down.”

Now retired and a coach with the Mumbai Indians franchise in the revolutionary Women’s Premier League (WPL), Goswami sounds the bugle. “It’s high time. The time for semi-finals and runners-up is gone. Everyone who has been part of this journey, big and small, deserves this World Cup. And to do it at home is a golden opportunity that won’t come every time.”