Strike like a girl

While the country was hooked on to the news of who will become the coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, the Indian women’s cricket team was quietly making their mark. Captain Mithali Raj became the leading run-scorer in women’s ODIs, with 6,028 runs to her credit. Jhulan Goswami is already the highest wicket taker in the history of the game’s shorter format. Despite these milestones, the country doesn’t celebrate and laud women cricketers like it does their male counterparts.

Cricket analyst Akash Chopra believes some steps could help women’s cricket gain more popularity in India. “People would probably hate to hear this but the responsibility lies with the Indian public. The World Cup is happening right now and these women are performing very well. If the public starts following Indian women’s cricket, things will improve. Women cricketers come to limelight once in a while and then they are forgotten again. We cannot remember them every three to four years. If one really wants this to flourish, they have to have an onging affair with the game. One has to follow it regularly. Unfortunately, most sportswomen are only remembered when they have won an award or a title or have broken a record. So the problem lies there. When more people follow what women cricketers are doing, things will move,” he says.

The culture of motivating more girls to enter sports will also get a boost this way, he feels. “If the public takes interest in women’s cricket, more parents will start motivating their girls to take up cricket. Not many parents want that right now because there is no visibility or hope for a good and secure future for women in cricket. A woman’s IPL can also help with the popularity,” he adds.

Indian women cricket team’s Captain Mithali Raj in action

However, former Indian Test cricketer, Balwinder  Singh Sandhu thinks that to put themselves on the world map the Indian women’s cricket team will have to make a mark internationally. “The number of women in Indian cricket is still not as high as it should be. That will happen when they win a big tournament of international level. Before 1983, even men’s cricket didn’t have much money. Things started moving after the 1983 cricket World Cup that was won by India. So winning will help them market their game as well. BCCI can market them better once that happens. That is when the money will come in and an IPL sort of a tournament can be held for women’s cricket as well. Right now a sponsor doesn’t want to do this. So winning a big tournament is very important for them, as it will have a positive impact,” he says, adding, “I have trained some of these women and I know they are very hard-working and sincere.”

Cricketer Aarti Sharma believes that many elements control the popularity of a team. She says, “What women’s cricket team really needs is public as well as media support. Today, people are  only interested in men’s cricket team and tournaments. The women’s cricket team is hardly in news. Of course, Mithali achieved a great feat and there was no question of not including her in the news, but generally, the way men’s cricket is covered is totally different from women’s cricket in India.  Media, government as well as coaches take very less interest in the women’s team.”