Mumbai, Oct. 31 -- Fifty years ago, when Shantha Rangaswamy walked out for the toss at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium, she was stepping into history. India were playing their first official women's Test, against West Indies, on October 31, 1976. The stands were packed. Around 20,000 had turned up, buying tickets to watch a team of women cricketers who had fought against enormous odds to reach the international stage. Today, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues belong to a generation enjoying the rewards - BCCI contracts, lucrative WPL deals and endorsements. But the foundations of that transformation were laid by Shantha and her teammates, who played without financial rewards or adequate facilities. Shan...