Just a few days back we saw Harleen Deol take a stunning catch during an International T20 match against England. An effort that was reflective of India’s improved fielding standards as well as renewed focus on more agile performances on the field.
Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and few others have become a household name now in India.
These women are inspiring the pathway for young women to move from the lowest rungs to the top with sheer handwork and determination to take the indigenous sport forward.
Moments that create history
Women’s cricket in India has been making headlines since India made the finals of the 2017 50-over World Cup and the 2020 T20 World Cup.
There are young women who have expressed their desire to play like Shafali Verma, a 17 year old cricketer who impressed one and all with her ability to hit the ball cleanly, Poonam Yadav, a legbreak bowler who bamboozled most batters with her googlies. These are just some examples, although all the players who played in the tournament are still receiving praise for their stupendous performance.
By the end of 2021, India would have played two Tests after a gap of almost seven years: One just ended, in England few weeks back, and there’s another lined up, a pink-ball Test — the second for women, in Australia in September.
It will be a historic moment for the Indian players who haven’t played a pink-ball Test. With the Indians having a series against England in their conditions and then coming out to Australia to play all three formats will mean they have been together for a while and have had some great matches, no doubt against England. More importantly, it shows that the most prestigious format will now be accessible for female players from three countries.
Let’s talk numbers
The ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2020 saw a stupendous growth in viewership. In a first for women’s cricket, matches were broadcasted by Star Sports in five languages- English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu, with a growth of 39% in viewership reported, as compared to the previous edition of the same tournament.
It also set a new record in becoming the most-watched women’s cricket event ever, as per a report by SportsPro Media.
Having amassed a total of 701 million video views, this surpassed the previous record from the 2017 Cricket World Cup by approximately 601 million. In comparison to aspects of the men’s game, The Hindu report that the event itself was the most-watched ICC cricket competition after the men’s ODI World Cup.
These were some positive signs for women’s cricket and it gives the indication that women’s cricket is getting cherished in the country.
Inequal pay grade
Another point which has to be taken note of is the inequality in payment of men and women cricketers.
While cricketers in the women’s team who come in the grade A contract of the BCCI, like Smrithi Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Yadav, are paid INR 50 Lakh per year; cricketers in the men’s team who come in the grade A+ contract of the BCCI are paid INR 7 Crore per year. Though a lot of dissent has been raised against this inequality in pay, the BCCI hasn’t paid any heed to these issues.
Future programs
The BCCI has inculcated Under-19 and Under-23 cricket, but 40–50% of the girls end up playing both Under-19 and Under-23 for certain teams, because there aren’t too many girls playing. BCCI need to have separate calendars so there’s no clash.
Outreach programmes with Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, schools are in the pipelines. The Women’s IPL (in discussions for a while now but yet to become a reality) is at the highest level, and that can be made possible. But for it to be successful, BCCI will need a stronger domestic circuit, a better structure.
The women’s IPL will have the same quality as the men’s IPL if there is a strong foundation. The way men’s cricket is played in India, board don’t need to do too much, because there is so much talent, so many players in the system. That has to happen for the women.
