India reaching the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup is certainly a great achievement, but the story has just begun for women’s cricket in India.
India agonisingly lost the final to England by 9 runs at Lord’s on Sunday. However, their effort in the competition will go a long way in helping the growth of women’s cricket in the country.
After a spectacular run in the World Cup, here’s a look at what has happened and what can/should happen next for the Indian team and for women's cricket.
What has happened: The recent journey of the team has been absolutely terrific – a dream run. A great final at Lord's before a sellout crowd is a feat in itself. Lord's and the MCC have collectively, and for long, sneered at women and women's cricket and were apprehensive about how it attracting fans. However, the final proved them wrong.
India might have failed to cross the line in the final, but won big in many ways. They beat both England and Australia and their remarkable progress in the tournament excited fans and ignited interest in women’s cricket as never before. The stirring surge in TRP’s kept everyone glued to their screens praying for India to win.
Post the final, individual players have become stars. They are household names now, identified by housewives and admired by young fans. Leading the brigade is Harmanpreet Kaur, the peppy Punjabi who plays with the audacity of Sehwag and the powerful precision of Kohli. Her 171 was an innings swagger king Viv Richards would be proud of. When asked about this high quality carnage, her response was simple and disarming – “...did not want to lose this opportunity”.
Jhulan Goswami is the 'go to' bowler – ageless and accurate. She is like McGrath – at batters all the time, bowling line and length. Always asking troubling questions and extremely difficult to put away.
The bigger star, of course, is Mithali Raj – a picture of poise, dignity and composure. She is the ultimate package that oozes the cool quotient of Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the cunning of Sourav Ganguly and the quiet dignity of Rahul Dravid.
Where things stand now: After the unexpected, the expected is happening – to use an (annoying) cliche, the entire country is 'proud'. Celebrations are planned and cash awards announced. The PM has extensively tweeted his congratulations. So have all male cricket legends – Sachin, Kohli and the entire tribe.
The BCCI announced Rs 50 lakh each to players – a really serious jump, considering the highest slab in the annual contract system is a mere Rs 15 lakh. Players have been promised out-of-turn promotions and other benefits. Everyone is so caught up in this spiral that even the Madhya Pradesh government, not remotely related to women’s cricket, is happy to contribute Rs 50 lakh to the team.
Keeping the awards and congratulations away, what the team has successfully accomplished is how they have managed to make a brand out of women's cricket that is followed, loved and respected.
Until yesterday, it was cricket’s distant second cousin – tolerated but not given attention, treated in a step-sisterly fashion by richer and powerful relatives. Now, women’s cricket can stand on its own feet and walk on its own without any support.
The World Cup is a step forward for the team, but in the larger context of women’s cricket it is a giant leap. Now people take them more seriously, which has brought in greater awareness and bigger audience for the sport.
What this translates into is more support, more facilities, more money and most importantly a massive perception and change of mindset. Women's cricket is now 'cool', which attracts talent – the oxygen every sport so desperately seeks .
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What’s Next: Women's IPL?
There is a buzz that is building up over launching a league to leverage the current momentum and high consumer interest. But thinking realistically, women's cricket is not ready yet. It needs to travel further to reach a stage where it has more depth, more bench strength and more quality to sustain a tournament. Even a short four-team tournament requires 80 players, and presently, this pool of players is not available.
People pushing for a women’s IPL forget that the IPL works because the best in the business (both foreign and Indian) compete against each other. More than the noise (of peripherals – cheerleaders, music, entertainment), the league must deliver riveting cricket, a requirement that is fundamental and non-negotiable.
A women's IPL is a sound idea, as Australia has shown, but premature in India. Its time will come, maybe in sometime. Meanwhile, let us celebrate the achievements of this team, admire and applaud their splendid performance.
Postscript: Lest We Forget
It’s true that we have suddenly woken up to women's cricket, but all these years it was neglected and unsupported, even dismissed and derided. While everyone is happy to participate in the feast now, the only lifeline in the dark days was Indian Railways which provided jobs and facilities to these players – the only organisation to do so.
The person behind this staunch support was Madhavrao Scindia, former Minister for Railways and President of BCCI .
What Needs to be Done:
Post the World Cup, much has been said about the way forward for women's cricket, some of which is sensible while other suggestions are not very workable. Having first hand experience of running cricket activities in Rajasthan state association in the last two years, and with understanding of ground reality, here is a list of practical suggestions that are doable:
1. Appoint a dedicated senior recourse as Director Women's cricket for the team. He should be tasked to draw up a long-term development till the next World Cup .
2. Team India, needs professional support staff – a full-time coach, a manager, a video analyst – just like the men’s team. This apart, what the team needs is a coach to boost their mental strength. This on the basis of a request articulated by captain Mithali Raj who mentioned that the team, if supported by a specialist in this field, would have coped better in the tense final.
3. At the BCCI level, funds to state associations must clearly be provided for spending on developing women's cricket. States must be mandated to build academies, run regular coaching clinics, hold camps and tournaments. At present, women's cricket is least prioritised at the state level.
4. Player Welfare measures: There is a desperate need to restructure the financial arrangements of women players. A reasonable increase will motivate and inspire the current set of players; also attract new talent into the sport.
At the national level, annual contracts at Rs 15 and Rs 10 lakh now look absurd – these should be raised and more players should be included in the list. Likewise, match allowances have to be realistic.
At present, the BCCI shares 26 percent of its revenue with players, of which the senior men receives half (that is 13 percent). Share of women players is less than two percent.
5. From a cricket standpoint, more competitions and exposure. This to include a clear talent pathway – India A/Emerging Player/Under 19 teams.
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The NCA should have a dedicated wing solely responsible for research, growth and development of women cricket. Also a programme to develop skills to induct women professionals into umpiring, scoring, pitch preparation, match referee positions.
Start a high-profile floodlit tournament on the lines of Duleep, Deodhar with better inputs. At the grassroots level, a proper inter-state school tournament needs to be conducted to encourage young girls to take up cricket.
6. Brand building: Women's cricket should ride the current momentum to reach out to its growing fan base. For this, redesign the BCCI website to have a separate section that tracks and publicises the journey of players. In addition, as with the men's senior team, a specialist social media/digital person should be attached with the women team to connect with supporters on a real-time basis .
The women team's success is a trigger for the sport to move ahead rapidly. It is now up to the BCCI to seize the moment and take steps to fast track progress.
(Amrit Mathur is a senior journalist, former GM of the BCCI and Manager of the Indian Cricket Team. He can be reached at @AmritMathur1)
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