A Women's Cricket Spectacle to remember...

Women’s cricket in India and around the world has always been the victim of step-sisterly treatment. But over the last few years, the world of women’s cricket has undergone a sea of visible change and this change is now slowly yet surely showing in India as well. The recently concluded inaugural Challenger Trophy for women was a testimony to that fact. The cream of the women’s cricket talent in India came together on one big stage for the first time to play in this tournament. Our reporter Mamta Joseph who was present at the event tells us more…

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Inspired by the men’s event with the same name, the Women’s Challenger series saw 39 of India’s best cricketers divided into three teams, namely India ‘A’, India ‘B’ and India ‘C’. These teams went head-to-head in a ‘round robin’ event that was held over four days and the two best sides from the league phase, met in a title clash on the final day. The Jhulan Goswami-led India ‘A’ trounced the Mithali Raj-led India ‘C’ in a gripping final played at the MCA cricket grounds in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex.

The tournament was the first of its kind for women and to add to its uniqueness, there were a few special features that made the event a memorable one. One such unique highlight was the presence of a very special audience; through the four days of the tournament, the boundary rope was lined with uniform-clad school children from around Mumbai who cheered and encouraged the girls as they played. To add colour to the event and to increase awareness about the Women’s game, the BCCI invited these children to get a glimpse of Indian women’s cricket at its best. It was heartening to see these little girls running to the likes of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami for autographs at the close of play, as this was previously unheard of in women’s cricket! “This is the first time that I am being hounded by autograph hunters…” said an amused Mithali Raj who like her counterparts was pleasantly surprised by the unusual attention that they were suddenly receiving.

Veena Paralkar a former Mumbai cricketer who was at the event as a volunteer to co-ordinate the activities of the school children, was as pleased as the players with the presence of the children at the event. “These are the efforts of the BCCI to improve the women’s game”, said Paralkar as she pointed to a 500-strong crowd; something that the women’s game has almost never witnessed before at the domestic level. Ratnakar Shetty, the Chief Administrative Officer of the BCCI, who was present as a chief guest at the event acknowledged this fact saying, “This has been a brilliant effort to get 500 people in every day. Our Ranji matches don’t even get a hundred people watching it! This has been a fabulous first effort and I hope it is the first of many…”

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The driving force behind the recent revolution in the women’s game is the merger of the ICC (International Cricket Council) and the IWCC (International Women’s Cricket Council); a move that gave birth to a series of sub-mergers of men’s and women’s governing bodies in every ICC member country around the world. The BCCI in India adopted the concept of the merger in October 2006 and it now has a Women’s Council within the Board to take care of matters pertaining to the women’s game. Shubhangi Kulkarni, a former cricketer, is the Women’s representative of the BCCI. “The merger had helped the women’s game tremendously. The girls are playing on much better grounds with far better facilities. That used to be a problem earlier as most of the good grounds used to be booked by the BCCI.” says Shubhangi.

The biggest advantage of the merger is the fact that it allows women’s cricket to utilize the strengths of the BCCI instead of struggling under the governance of an isolated body. The running of women’s cricket in the country has been subjected to a phenomenal change post the merger. This includes better facilities, more tournaments, better sponsorship and more attention given to the women’s game. The success of this inaugural Women’s Challenger tournament was an affirmation of that change. One can only hope that this is the first of many such much-needed boosts for the Women’s game.