The treatment of India’s top male cricket players compared to top women’s cricket players shows a great divide between the two. Unfortunately, that has been further corroborated by the media coverage and continuous attention from agencies, sponsors, and fans — all aiming towards the men’s national team. Subsequently, the attention that surrounds the most popular sport in India does not apply to the women’s team. Moreover, the female team is inadequately compared to the male team.
However, we’re positive that there are plenty of solutions that can help change the perception of women’s cricket in this cricket-obsessed country. It doesn’t take a lot for the hard work of many women to be recognized and acknowledged.
Don’t forget to stay up to date with Sportsadda cricket news once cricket is back in action. Until then, let’s talk about how women’s cricket can improve by only following three key steps.
Role of BCCI in Women’s Cricket
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has a crucial role in India’s cricket. BCCI can do plenty of little things that would immensely help to bring awareness to women’s cricket in India. One of those things is to encourage broadcasting networks to showcase more women’s matches. In the same manner, incentives like subsidized tickets for matches can be another initiative that can result in bringing more audience to the stands.
When talking about fans and audiences, there’s a big difference in number when the women’s matches are played compared to the men’s. The majority of men’s matches are played after working hours, while women’s matches are played during the day. By making a small change in the time frame of women’s matches, especially with T20 matches, a greater number of people would surely rush to the stands to witness these exciting cricket matches.
By taking a more active role to increase the popularity of women’s cricket, BCCI would attract more people (fans, sponsors, etc.) and create a larger sense of pride in the country.
Raising Awareness
When comparing the men’s and the women’s cricket teams in India, you will find equally capable and motivated players on both teams. Names like Smriti Mandhana, Jhulan Goswani, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Shefali Verma are only a few among dozens of first-class players that can attest to that.
The attitude surrounding women’s cricket in India needs to change so more people could acknowledge the incredible games played by these women. Their achievements speak for themselves, as they have made it to two World Cup finals (2005, 2017). Aside from that, the team made it to three World Twenty20 semi-finals (2009, 2010, 2018) and one final in 2020.
With a bit of much-needed support, as well as by raising awareness, we could expect many more finals and trophies in the future.
Government Incentives
Promoting the interest of women cricketers by making special provisions is possible with numerous state governments of various state cricket boards, as well as with the central government. By doing that, state cricket boards could be more willing to offer incentives to promote women’s cricket. That way, the BCCI will feel more responsibility to aid the women’s cricket teams.
Luckily, the popularity of women’s cricket in India is on the rise as more people are becoming interested in the sport. The recent T20 finals brought more attention to the national team. That would hopefully be the wind at their back to push even further and win some prestigious trophies in the following years.
Loves all things female cricket
