India’s victory over Australia in last night’s Women’s ODI World Cup semi-final offered cricket fans a sense of redemption after the Men's World Cup loss to the same opponents.

For brands supporting women's cricket, this is a big win. 

The women's team has made it to the ODI World Cup finals in the past, most recently in 2017, when Harmanpreet Kaur powered India to a victory over the same opponents from last night, before the team fell short against the hosts, England, in the final. In 2005, too, India made it to the final, before losing to Australia.

But this feels different. 

To see a packed house at a match in Navi Mumbai on a weekday could mean that women's cricket has truly arrived. 

BookMyShow, the ticketing portal for the tournament, offered tickets for the final at INR 150. Now, with a 'coming soon' tag appearing for fans eager to purchase, a queue is expected, much like with the Men's ODI World Cup or major concerts in India. If this happens, it would signal a major milestone for the sport in the country.

Secondly, brands have found it prohibitively expensive to partner with cricket in the country. And for the many brands that did have deep pockets (or their VCs had them), there was the risk of failing by not breaking the clutter by using the usual suspects, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Now, the duo is at its zenith and perhaps not the best option for brands. Next in line, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are not playing all the games for India, and the younger generation is yet to show up. 

Given that, brands must tap into the likes of last night’s match winner, Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, and Richa Ghosh. And, while many speculate it could be Harmanpreet Kaur’s last big ICC tournament, she remains an option to break the clutter while trying to reach out to the cricket fans in the country. The rest of the team like Renuka Thakur and Radha Yadav among others are also good options for brands to consider.

And to the brands like Hyundai, Puma, PNB Metlife, Nike, and Gulf Oil, among others, that have done that already by partnering with the likes of Mandhana, Kaur, and Rodrigues - they have delivered winners.

Last night also proved that cricket remains a religion in the country - only now the Goddesses are commanding more worshippers.

Here's Manifesting the 'Women in Blue' deliver the ultimate prize on Sunday and then get way more prizes their way in terms of endorsements.

The author is founder and editor, Manifest.