Harmanpreet Kaur and Radha Yadav: The Indian players who made history at ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup

Left-arm spin-bowling Radha Yadav’s journey is measured in a few steps along one lane in Kandivali, a suburb in the western city of Mumbai. After earning her first BCCI contract at 19, six years ago, she bought her family a small grocery shop called the Radha Mini General Store. It stands only a few steps from the pavement stall where her father, Omprakash Yadav, sold milk and vegetables for years.

The home above the shop measured about 225 sq ft (21 sq m). Space was limited; ambition was not. Her elder sister Sonee, who also played cricket, gave up the sport so that Radha could continue playing. The family backed one dream and stayed with it.

She moved from tennis-ball cricket in narrow lanes to the highest stage of the sport because she was encouraged not to stop.

The morning after India’s World Cup win, a photograph went viral: Omprakash, smiling broadly, walking beside head coach Amol Muzumdar during the team’s lap of honour at the stadium, the World Cup trophy held aloft, on his head.

One frame held what the years had carried: street, store, family, belief.