Right moves in women's Cricket

To say that a new era in Indian women’s cricket has started because the team has made it to the T20 World Cup semifinals in Australia will be overstating things.

To say that a new era in Indian women’s cricket has started because the team has made it to the T20 World Cup semifinals in Australia will be overstating things. That will happen only if they win it. What can be said is they are on the right track. After years in the shadow of the top teams, they are now among the contenders. Competition in the women’s game was mostly between England and Australia. Of the 17 World Cups in the 50-over and 20-over formats, these two have won 16. The West Indies are the only other winners.

Overall head-to-head records still show a domination of the big teams, but Indian women have started getting the better of them. In the ongoing World Cup, they have beaten Australia and New Zealand, who are ranked above India.This change in the fortunes of Indian women’s cricket happened after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took women’s cricket under its wings. Dependent on private patronage before that, women cricketers started getting proper practice facilities and coaching. It became mandatory for state associations to organise women’s cricket. Tournaments in junior and senior levels became regular and structured.

The national team has a full-fledged support staff and a busy calendar, where they play against other top teams regularly. Today, 22 women cricketers are offered annual contracts worth Rs50 lakh, Rs30 lakh and Rs10 lakh. Though not comparable with what the men get, these are substantial figures to encourage women cricketers. Seen in recent times is the result of all this. Women’s cricket will not move from sports to the front pages unless they win a World Cup. But the way they are going, the day does not seem far away when India ends the hegemony of Australia and England in the small world of women’s cricket. The players have done enough to believe they can achieve this. It may or may not happen during the ongoing World Cup. However, that should not deter this team from aspiring. Even if they don’t win it now, they will remain on course.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com