Cricket is the lifeline of almost every Indian. All the diehard fans flock to the stadiums to watch their favorite sportspersons play their favorite sport. After the pandemic wreaked havoc, people could no longer watch and live the euphoria that surrounds this game in our country. In the early stages of the lockdown, various sports channels broadcast the highlights of different matches from the past and we as fans watched all these games with the same enthusiasm as any live game.
Sportspersons too were eager to get back on the field to practice, train and play matches as soon as possible. Soon enough, players were allowed to train in small numbers in different stadiums in their hometowns. Fitness tests, net sessions, and various other drills were done to get the players as close to matching fitness as possible.
The only catch in all that has been said is that all these above-mentioned events pertain to men cricketers only. Players in remote areas could practice in grounds nearby from a very early stage whereas the players in metropolitan cities had to wait longer to get back in action. Even the aforementioned matches that were telecast pertained to men’s cricket.
All these things make us wonder and ask ourselves a question – where do we, as cricket fans, as administrators, as office bearers, lack when it comes to empowering our women cricketers to get the same facilities, infrastructure, and treatment as our male cricketers?
In an interview with The Quint, Dr. Roopali Slathia who is a BCCI certified coach and has captained the J&K senior women’s team for almost a decade spoke about the difficulties faced by her to find a venue ready to collaborate with them to provide facilities for women cricketers to practice and host women’s games. While the grounds were teeming up with male cricketers, Dr. Slathia had to convince a college to lend its playground.
But not everyone and everyplace is as tough as this. Recently, Jhulan Goswami in a tweet stated that a separate practice facility for female cricketers has been started in YMCA for the upliftment of women’s cricket in Bengal. In her tweet, she thanked the CAB President, secretary, and all the office bearers for this benevolent act.
Thanks to CAB president, secretary and all office bearers for starting a separate practice facility for female cricketers in YMCA. This will help in the upliftment of women’s cricket in Bengal. @CabCricket pic.twitter.com/OZWQT0iRIa
— Jhulan Goswami (@JhulanG10) February 17, 2021
The Indian women’s team too can bring laurels for their country. They too can be world beaters, lift trophies and win the hearts of every sports lover. What is needed though, is the right kind of infrastructure and facilities. Just merely stating that we support our women’s team without actually doing anything to help them grow is not going to help the cause. This step taken by CAB can go a long way in ensuring that women’s cricket is taken more seriously in the future.
Loves all things female cricket