India, Nov. 4 -- In a small village nestled in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, a father's long-cherished dream has found its destiny - not through his son, but his daughter. Renuka Singh Thakur, one of the architects of India's maiden Women's World Cup triumph, has fulfilled the cricketing aspirations of her late father, Kehar Singh Thakur, who passed away when she was just three years old.

A passionate cricket lover, Kehar Singh had once hoped that at least one of his children would take up the sport seriously. His devotion to the game was so deep that he named his firstborn Vinod Thakur, after former India batter Vinod Kambli, who was a rising star of the 1990s alongside Sachin Tendulkar. But it was his daughter, Renuka, who would go on...