When do you know that you’ve finally achieved something in your life? Well I can say it is the moment when you bow down to the success you’ve earned and when the people around bow down to you, while you hold in your hands the remarkable memory of the deeds that you’ve done in a lifetime. The term LIFE is measured in milestones and TIME is measured in years and you know that you’ve made proper choices and decisions when you receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Just recently the Board of Control for Cricket in India i.e. BCCI for the first time after so many years has decided to recognize the services rendered by Indian women cricketers, introducing a Lifetime Achievement Award for them. Don’t tell me you thought only film stars and artists received them.
Former India captain Shantha Rangaswamy will be its first recipient. The former Indian captain has played 16 Test matches between the years of 1976 and 1991. Between these periods she has scored 750 runs at 32.60 and taken 21 wickets at 31.61. In 19 ODIs that took place between the span of time lying between 1982 and 1986 she made 287 runs and bagged 12 scalps.
A right-handed batter, she scored 750 runs at a batting average of 32.6 in her 16 Test matches, with one century (108), which was the first century by Indian Women Cricketer against New Zealand on 08.01.1977 at Carisbrook, Dunedin. She also took 21 wickets bowling right arm medium pace at a bowling average of 31.61, including a best analysis of 4-42 against England.
In 19 ODIs, she scored 287 runs at 15.1, and took 12 wickets at 29.41. She recorded her best batting and bowling performances in ODIs at the Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand in 1982, scoring her only ODI fifty (out for 50) against New Zealand and taking 3-25 against an International XI. She is 1st Indian Woman Cricketer who made Century in Test Match (Vs. New Zealand at Dunedin) for India.
“It’s a good feeling that women cricketers are finally getting their due. Those days were tough but we were still able to lay a solid foundation for the future. Ever since the BCCI took women cricket under its fold, many things have significantly improved but there is still a lot that needs to be done,” Rangaswamy told PTI reacting to the news.
For her commendable contribution to the world of women cricket, she will be awarded with the prize during the BCCI Annual Awards ceremony in Bangalore on March 8. Finally we can say that the world hasn’t turned blind eyes towards the efforts shown by female cricketers. Where efforts are made, they always pay in the time to come. What an honor to receive an award as such on Women’s Day. There is a long way to go ahead for all the female cricketers.
Kudos
