Enough has been said about the importance of the upcoming bilateral series between Sri Lanka and India which is to begin in less than 24 hours and yet nothing has been said on how the matches will be televised and if it will be even done or not. It is heartbreakingly shocking to see such a vast difference between the promotion and importance given to men’s cricket and women’s cricket. And the players, the teams, the fans, and billions of eyes have been waiting for the moment when cricket will not need to be regarded as men’s or women’s and when every match will be given equal importance.
The fans should not have to refresh their Twitter feeds every other minute to get an update on a series as important as this one. The Sri Lanka Vs India limited-overs series is a part of the ICC Women’s Championships 2022-25 and every point counts, every match counts, and under no circumstances should it be taken as lightly as this. It cannot go unnoticed that while men’s matches are being televised as well as are available on online platforms to watch live, fans have no clue where such an important series could be watched even less than 24 hours before it begins.
Recently, Lisa Sthalekar was appointed as the President of FICA and there was all the well-deserved appreciation of the glass-ceiling breaking but at the same time, the very differentiated reality is also that the even in 2022, when cricket has reached these advanced levels, due attention is still not being paid to women’s cricket. And with such drastic differences, how can we say that this sport is growing?
Young girls and women have faced countless challenges at every level of this career and in most other careers. From fighting for a cricket bat on a birthday instead of a barbie to dreaming of donning the national jersey, from standing in a corner and not being allowed to bat or bowl in gully cricket to not finding enough academies that train women. And the list can go on, but isn’t it the duty of every person related to this beautiful sport to give women’s cricket the love, attention, and respect it has always deserved?
Women cricketers have played at empty stadiums, and have made world records when not enough people were cheering. But times have improved and the fans are flooding stadiums, and social media feeds in support of women’s cricket, making posters, and leaving them clueless is not done.
Such an enthralling series with eyes hooked on India’s new all-format skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur, Sri Lanka’s fireball Chamari Athapaththu gearing up, and many, many masterclass players set to play, deserves only excitement, cheering, live-action and nail-biting thriller on every ball and not curiosity and cluelessness.
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The 22 Yard stretch that molded me, is what I hold sacred. A cricketer weaving life’s innings into words. A Rohit Sharma Admirer always. I believe writing and cricket aren’t passions, but ways of life, so truly living the dream!
