The Indian women’s cricket team has done exceptionally well in the World Cup 2017 in England.
Unfortunately, their splendid performances have only been highlighted recently by the media, with no proper TV coverage of earlier matches and reports relegated to a few paragraphs at the bottom of the sports pages of newspapers.
We sincerely hope that the Girls in Blue will inspire women in Pune to take up cricket. We spoke to a few women to get their opinion on the subject.
Shyama Dutta, Teacher/Trainer
Pune is a sports city, and a place where women have long found a space to succeed. The cricketing success of the women’s team at the World Cup is already encouraging several girls to take up the sport. You can see so many head to varied sports grounds, with their cricketing gear in tow. What is interesting is the coverage, from being insipid to begin with, is now picking up strength, simply because the voices on social media have increased. Several men are encouraging the women on, tweets of celebrities and more has helped increase media volume. This kind of attention is a good start. One hopes that women’s cricket grows and more competitive avenues with better packages help these young women choose cricket as a profession.
Jaya Shetty, Author
First of all, congratulations to the ladies cricket team. Cricket is a sport which has to be looked at with equal fervour whether the men are playing or the women. There should be no bias in our minds. This performance will certainly spur young people to take up the sport.
Medha Naik, Branch manager, NKGSB Coop Bank Ltd, Sinhagad Road branch
Am sure many girls will take up the game after India’s great show at the World Cup. But the media did not give much exposure to them. This is sad. They are only bothered about men’s cricket. There is so much overkill about the men’s team that I am beginning to hate the game. It is pathetic.
Manjiri Gaikwad, Graphic Artist
When we say cricket, it’s always the men’s cricket team. The women’s team has been there from quite a long time. They should be talked about more so that more girls take up cricket and Pune has a girls’ cricket training centre too.
Minal Cheema, Entrepreneur
I am not too sure. Despite such good performances, the media coverage has been poor so far. Women’s cricket is so underrated in our country. We need to create awareness about how well our women performed. Only that way will we support women in cricket.
Wibha Lele, Teacher
I was not much interested in cricket. But a Facebook post by a friend spurred me to watch the matches. I hated cricket because all we read or saw was men’s cricket. And they did not perform so well recently too. I want women to get similar treatment to men’s. Only that way will we promote women’s cricket. Am sure Pune’s women will take up the game.
Vandana Priya, University Co-ordinator
The success of our female cricket team in the ICC world Cup should lead to bigger things in our country. When India’s men won the World T20 in 2007, it led to the formation of Indian Premier League. It’s a golden opportunity to grow the sport and capture the hearts and minds of our cricket-mad nation and encourage more and more young girls to take up the sport. The World Cup story evoked major response. This will inspire the next generation of girls to engage with the game and that day is not far when women’s cricket will stand up for itself, not only in our own country but around the world.
Namita Sangtani, Student
Though the women’s triumph is commendable, you can’t deny that women’s cricket does not get the kind of coverage that men in blue do.
Until that happens, I don’t think it will really make more women wanting to play the game. Personally, I adore cricket, but as a Sindhi my parents don’t even allow me to take up a job. Marriage is on the horizon. So playing professionally is quite unthinkable.
#All views expressed in this article are the individual respondents.
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