Why Brands Should Care About India's U19 Women Dominating World Cricket

While India's women's cricket team commands headlines and prime-time slots, there's another squad doing extraordinary things in relative silence.  

Earlier this year, India's U19 women's cricket team defended their T20 World Cup title, then turned around and dismantled Australia in a Test series. These are the kind of performances that would've sparked national celebrations if they'd happened under brighter lights, but these young players aren't household names. Yet!

They might not be filling stadiums or landing eight-figure endorsements. But they're racking up consistent wins with the quiet determination of athletes who know they have everything to prove and little to lose. And that's exactly what makes them interesting, not just as cricketers, but as a marketing opportunity that most brands are still sleeping on. 

This rise isn’t happening in isolation either. The momentum created by the senior women’s team — their World Cup runs, WPL visibility, and growing commercial pull — is now trickling down into the U19 setup, giving these players access to better coaching, higher expectations, and a clearer path to stardom.  

It’s the same pattern that shaped men’s cricket: the senior team’s success built an ecosystem where U19 talents like Kohli, Rohit, and Pant stepped in ready to dominate. India’s U19 women are now in that exact moment — a talent pipeline strengthened by the seniors’ achievements and on the brink of breaking into mainstream attention. For brands, catching them at this stage isn’t just smart timing; it’s getting ahead of a wave that’s already building. 

Why Early Investment in Emerging Women Athletes Pays Off 

India U19 women's cricket is doing more than racking up wins—these athletes are shifting perceptions and building genuine followings. Back-to-back World Cup victories and commanding performances against traditional powerhouses like Australia signal something fundamental has changed.  

Women's cricket in India now gets prime-time visibility, with platforms like JioStar pushing for better storytelling and broadcast slots, as CEO Ishan Chatterjee recently emphasized in industry discussions. 

This visibility creates fresh engagement possibilities. Young athletes bring a relatability that established stars sometimes lose along the way—they're discovering their potential in real-time, and audiences are discovering them too. The narrative feels raw and authentic. That's valuable territory for brands. 

Aligning with these youth athletes before they become household names offers brands several clear advantages: 

• Authentic storytelling: Supporting athletes during their formative years creates genuine narratives. You're enabling success, not just attaching to it after the fact. 

• Long-term association: Early partnerships build loyalty. As athletes rise, brands that backed them first earn credibility that lasts. 

• Cost-effective visibility: Youth sports partnerships often start with smaller investments upfront but deliver exponential returns as athletes gain prominence. 

• Powerful empowerment themes: Women's youth sports marketing taps into breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and inspiring the next generation—themes that resonate broadly. 

Analysis projects that India's women's cricket World Cup victory will boost brand valuations of key players by 10-20%. Imagine the multiplier effect when brands invest before these athletes reach their peak. 

Brands Successfully Aligning with Youth Women's Sports 

Smart brands worldwide are already making strategic moves. Here are some examples that prove the business case: 

Mumbai Indians “MI Junior” U-15 Girls (India) 

Mumbai Indians’ MI Junior inter-school tournament added an U-15 Girls category, bringing the WPL-era halo straight into school pathways across Maharashtra. Backed by the franchise’s ESA (Education & Sports for All) initiative, it provides structured competition, role-model appearances (e.g., Yastika Bhatia) and local media lift that legitimises girls’ cricket at school level.  

For the MI/Reliance ecosystem, this is grassroots brand integration with social impact—seeding fandom, participation and identification early. For girls, it’s more matches, better coaching environments and a tangible step towards academies and WPL scouting.

Cricket South Africa × KFC Mini-Cricket (South Africa) 

KFC Mini-Cricket is one of South Africa’s largest grassroots sports programs, engaging 120k+ children annually across thousands of schools—boys and girls learning cricket basics through fun, frequent play. Impact assessments and season reports emphasise inclusivity, volunteer-coach development and clear female participation pathways; notably, many Proteas Women alumni started here.  

KFC’s involvement for 14+ seasons has normalised its brand in school sport, with nationwide reach and strong community optics. The program’s volume of matches, coach training, and gender-equity commitments make it a case study in scale plus purpose.  

Cricket Australia & Woolworths 

The Australian governing body Cricket Australia has extended its partnership with Woolworths until 2028 to deepen their investment in junior cricket through the “Woolworths Cricket Blast” programme for children aged up to 10. Since Woolworths became naming‐rights sponsor in 2018, more than 470,000 kids have registered for the programme, while the Woolworths Community Fund has supported more than 50,000 children to play cricket for free via AUD 2.5 million+ in funding.  

The deal helps Woolworths build brand presence where lifelong fan relationships start—at the grassroots—while Cricket Australia accelerates participation and inclusion. 

Lacuna Sports 

Lacuna Sports is a female-centric cricket apparel and equipment company focusing on girls in cricket, motivated by the statistic that ~70% of girls drop out of sport by age 14. By designing kit specifically for girls and enabling their continued participation,  

Lacuna demonstrates how brands can combine social impact with strategic positioning.

The brand earns credibility with coaches and parents while normalising female-first design in junior cricket. It’s smart: tackle the reason girls stop playing, and you strengthen the whole youth pathway. 

Brands leveraging platforms for women's cricket marketing are seeing measurable returns. Marketing strategists note that social media presence becomes a monetizable asset when aligned with authentic athlete stories and active fan communities. 

Post-World Cup, Indian women cricketers are attracting endorsements across categories. This victory could even mark a turning point where women's cricket transitions from niche to mainstream brand opportunity. Early movers gain competitive advantage. 

Why Brands Can't Afford to Wait 

Women's youth sports marketing represents a structural shift, not a trend. As visibility increases, storytelling improves, and investment flows in, the barriers that once limited women's sports are breaking down. India's U19 women cricketers prove that excellence knows no age or gender limits. 

For brands, the question becomes when and how to engage, not whether. The athletes dominating today's youth tournaments are tomorrow's icons. The stories you tell alongside them now become part of their legacy—and yours. 

Sports marketing has a critical window—the stretch between potential and prominence. Miss it, and you're competing for attention with everyone else. Catch it, and you become part of the story. 

India's U19 women's cricket dominance goes beyond medals. These are young athletes on the cusp of careers that could redefine Indian sports. Brands that understand this aren't waiting for guarantees—they're investing in possibility. 

Platforms like Zupotsu make a difference here. We can connect brands with youth teams at the right moments with our insight into sports ecosystems, timing, and authenticity. We enable brands to show up when it matters most and invest authentically and build narratives that inspire. In sports and marketing alike, timing makes all the difference. 

Zupotsu is a martech platform on a mission to ‘digitize’ sports marketing. Zupotsu enables the discovery, engagement, and evaluation (the ‘DEE’ framework) for every sports and esports marketing asset. Please sign up at www.zupotsu.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. Reach out at ‘marketing@zupotsu.com’ for any queries.