The Ladies Finger is delighted to launch our content partnership with Wisden India with a three-part series on the history of women’s cricket in India. This piece – the final one in the series – looks at how the lack of structure at the lower levels of the women’s game, when compared to the men’s, isn’t doing the former any favours. Read Part I on the evolution of women’s cricket in India and Part II on recommendations to raise the women’s game.
“If you see a couple who has a son and daughter, invariably the son will get a cricket bat as a gift and the daughter will get a doll,” points out Sudha Shah, former coach of the Indian women’s cricket team.
Shah’s quip points to a significant problem in Indian women’s cricket: most people, both viewers and administrators, have not fully warmed up to the idea that women play cricket, and play it well.
Think men’s cricket and images pour into your mind – Sachin Tendulkar stroking a straight drive past Brett Lee, or Virat Kohli nonchalantly flicking Lasith Malinga off his pads. Think women’s cricket and the slate must be close to blank.
This despite the Indian team having two of the world’s best players in their ranks – Mithali Raj, the India Women captain, recently having crossed 5000 One-Day International runs during the home series against New Zealand, becoming only the second woman to do so, and Jhulan Goswami, who is only eight wickets away from becoming the top wicket-taker in women’s ODI history. These are the kind of players that opposition team meetings revolve around. Why then is it so hard to take the women’s sport seriously?
In India, the difference in attitude starts early, at the initial rungs of the domestic structure. While the men travel along a carefully plotted path, as if on board a train stopping at different stations, the route for the women is largely unplanned and serendipitous.
Almost every school in India has a boys’ cricket team, allowing boys who are interested to get an early start. The girls, on the other hand, have few opportunities at this stage.
The boys may have Under-12, Under-14 and even Under-16 divisions. There are local, national and sometimes international school tournaments. Most schools in India participate in the Under-16 Coca Cola-Cup, from which an India schools team is selected. From school, they may graduate to the state Under-14 or Under-16 (Vijay Merchant Trophy) team. Others enrol in a college with a strong cricket team.
These college teams too get a lot of exposure. Inter college and university tournaments take place on the national stage. Even the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) pay close attention to university cricket, as each zone forms a team and competes in the Vizzy Trophy. Red Bull, the energy drink company, has taken interest in college cricket and started an All-India tournament to help select a team to represent the country in their international Red Bull Campus Cricket championship. Indian college boys play against their compatriots from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Australia and Great Britain – more exposure than most youngsters receive at that age.
In between, of course, there are the state Under-19 (Vinoo Mankad Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy) and Under-23 (Col. CK Nayudu Trophy) teams; and, oh, how can we forget: club cricket.
Club cricket in India comes a close second to the Ranji Trophy in terms of importance. Most boys (or men, whatever you wish to call them) establish themselves as either serious contenders or the casual Sunday cricketer. Club cricket, players like myself believe, separates the men from the boys. Almost every male cricketer in the history of the game in India has been attached to a club or corporate team at some point in their careers. It may be one as obscure as Gemini Friends (a club in Hyderabad), or as well known as State Bank of India.
If one is good enough, he may make it to the senior state team (Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy). For many, it is a significant step in their careers. From the Ranji Trophy team, the next step is playing for the zone (previously the Duleep and Deodhar trophies), the Irani Cup or Challenger (NKP Salve) trophy, and then of course India A and finally the Indian team.
Of course, not everyone gets off at every station. The fortunate ones skip a few, taking the express train as it were, while many others get off along the way, and never make it back on.
For women cricketers, there are comparatively fewer steps.
Girls’ teams in schools are a rarity, even though institutions are now warming up to the idea. The first official step most girls take in the world of organised (that is career oriented) cricket is when they play for the Under-19 state team.
If you think that’s drastic, there’s more. The women have no such thing as an ‘in-between phase’. Well, up until this season, they didn’t. From the Under-19 level, the jump was straight to senior cricket – the women’s equivalent of the Ranji Trophy. By contrast, the boys have the additional Under-23 matches, which serve as a catchment phase for the Ranji level.To put this into perspective, by the time most boys are 17 or 18 years old, they have already played at least 30 matches (school, club, Under-14 and Under-16, combined), whereas many girls are entering their first season of serious cricket.
Afterwards, the steps for the women are pretty much the same: Zone, Challenger Trophy, India A and India. Of course, the India A team rarely gets a game – the odd game every year if a touring team wants a practice match.
Effectively, the women take only two steps before they play at the highest level, and that probably explains why the Indian team has been so inconsistent.
Besides, the two-day zonal competition (changed to three days from the 2015-16 season for seniors) is the only one that challenges the women to play a longer format and hone their technique.
“When you don’t play too much day’s game and suddenly you’re faced with playing a Test match, a four-day game in women’s cricket, the preparation is completely different. Even as experienced players, to play a Test after a long gap is itself a very challenging thing. For youngsters it is even more challenging,” Raj told Wisden India recently. “The youngsters need to play days game to become a quality player. You learn the temperament and polish your game.”
How can you sprint without warming up well? The matches one plays at the domestic level are essentially just a warm up for international cricket. The better the warm up, the faster the sprint.
Contrast the Indian women’s domestic structure with that of the two top-ranked teams. Australia and England are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the pack, with much emphasis being put on school and club cricket. Both countries have Under-15 state/county teams. They have understood the importance of encouraging young girls to play, and the effort (on for quite a few years now) is showing in their performances. They occupy positions in the top half of the ICC Women’s Championship, while after nine games, India are at the bottom of the eight-team table.
These countries also take good care of their fringe players, allowing them to use county academy facilities and taking them around the world to play matches. The Shooting Stars, Australia’s emerging players, and ECB Academy teams recently played a series in Dubai. Such tournaments are not only useful for exposure, but also give the players a bigger platform to showcase their skills and build confidence.
With the Indian women showing constant improvement and more consistent results, the BCCI have finally been persuaded to introduce more matches for them. The Under-23 tournament is a good addition to the season. It will help keep more players around and also add a third step.
But one thing must be noted. Although the women have fewer tournaments, the journey is no easier. The sweat, sacrifice and time put into the dream is no less than that of any male cricketer. Different formats and more age-group tournaments could mean more girls getting an opportunity to play. As Shah says, “These are exciting times for women’s cricket. The BCCI is slowly warming up to us and we must take full advantage.”
Ananya Upendran is an India Women A allrounder and is honing her skills as a journalist with Wisden India. She tweets @a_upendran11.
This article was first published on Wisden India.