Girls in white uniforms pedal their bikes through the green wheat fields of Dharoki village in northwestern India. They’re determined to reach the makeshift cricket ground that offers a path to chase their singular dream: to play for India’s national cricket team.
When they arrive, Gulab Singh is waiting for them to silently start their drills. A former aspiring cricketer, he, too, once dreamed of wearing the Indian jersey. Now he coaches 16 girls, all under age 16, with the hope that they will succeed where he could not. And his entire family is involved. His mother acts as a guardian, his sister offers massages and first aid, and his wife manages team logistics.
The girls are inspired by their favorite Indian female cricketers, household names such as the power-hitting Harmanpreet Kaur. Photos and videos of such stars, once rare, are now just as prominent as those of male cricketers, igniting the girls’ ambitions.
Mr. Singh, a lanky fast bowler in his youth, is a police constable for the Punjab Police. In 2019, he began coaching three girls on the terrace of his house. As more girls joined, he converted his farmland into a cricket ground.
“My uncles were furious and said I had ruined the land,” he says. “But I told them, watching these girls grow in the game is my first priority.”
For more visual storytelling that captures communities, traditions, and cultures around the globe, visit The World in Pictures.
