The year 2021 will bring a big smile to the faces of all the budding women cricketers, thanks to Red Bull, which is all set to launch Campus Cricket for women in India. The world’s biggest university-level cricket tournament will feature a women’s edition for the first time next year.
Red Bull Campus Cricket is a wonderful platform that provides opportunities for players to represent their college team and then go all the way to play for their country. The competition was launched in 2012 and is now in its ninth year. Over the years, Red Bull Campus Cricket has featured stellar Indian talent like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Manan Vohra, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Shashank Singh, Siddhesh Lad, Himanshu Rana, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anukul Roy, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ricky Bhui, among many. International players like Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Niroshan Dickwella and Chirag Suri have also played in Red Bull Campus Cricket before going on to represent their respective countries. In 2019, Red Bull Campus Cricket was played across 30 cities and featured 352 participating colleges. Red Bull Campus Cricket 2020 India Finals are currently underway in Lucknow.
India’s star opener Smriti Mandhana is all support for the Red Bull Campus Cricket for women. “I am very happy that Red Bull Campus Cricket will be conducting a women’s edition next year. It will be a great platform for Indian women who want to play cricket professionally. Many players have gotten selected for their state teams and played for national teams after playing Red Bull Campus Cricket. Players like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Manan Vohra, Anukul Roy, and others, have all played Red Bull Campus Cricket. To have a women’s edition will be a great boost for women’s cricket in India,” says Smriti Mandhana. A few players will get an exciting opportunity to interact with the southpaw.
The women’s competition will be held in four zones – north, south, east and west. The winner from each zone will go into the national finals and the ultimate winner from the national finals will be bestowed with the title of the best women’s college cricket team in India.
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.
