India, Sept. 23 -- Harmanpreet Kaur stood at the end of another Indian triumph in Nagoya, an Asian Games gold medal around her neck and another trophy added to a period in which victory has begun to look less like an event and more like an expectation. India had overwhelmed Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final, successfully defending the title they won at Hangzhou three years earlier.

Nearly half a century separates India's first officially recognised women's international in 1976 from Harmanpreet's latest medal, and the clearest measure is how radically the country's relationship with the team has changed. India once celebrated participation, then competitiveness, then appearances in major finals. Harmanpreet now captains a side for whom ...