Diana Edulji, the first woman to be appointed to the BCCI selection panel, entered the game when women’s cricket was only beginning to find its footing — in India and in the world. But she made history by becoming the player with the third highest number of wickets taken in women’s Test cricket. Still, in 1986, as the captain of the Indian team, Edulji was refused entry to the Lord’s Pavilion in England — an incident that prompted her to criticize the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) as more befitting of the abbreviation MCP, for “male chauvinist pigs.”

Before Jemimah Rodrigues led India to a historic Women’s World Cup final victory against South Africa this week, she faced much of the same prejudices that her predecessors did — with memes depicting women in the kitchen. Decades apart, the two women stand testament to the spirit of sportsmanship in a hostile culture. But good sportspeople have always had a way of letting their game do the talking.