Australia have for the 7th time won the Women’s World Cup. Their compatriots have won 5 whereas the women have surpassed them by a couple. That is an incredible record whichever way you look at it. It also shows how challenging are the other teams. However, the question that keeps coming up is that, did anyone follow the World Cup? Did the wider public even know that there was something called a World Cup was even going on? I for one, do not remember watching any of the games. Even when India was playing. This brings us to the point, women’s world cup any takers?
Let me make onething clear at the very outset. I am not against women’s cricket or a world cup for them. They are an important part of the game itself and as such will need to stand on their own. Having said that, the reason for there being no takers for women’s cricket is pretty obvious. A distinct lack of interest on the part of the governing body and more precisely, the BCCI. It is now a well-established fact that for cricket to survive and thrive, the Indian cricket board and India is pretty important. Infact, Indians are paramount to run the game.
It will not be an exaggeration to state that if Indians stop watching the game, the game will be forgotten. Indians bring in the big dollars into the game. All the countries want to host India because it allows them to pay the bills and keep the game alive in their country. Australia did not leave any stone unturned when the Indian men toured that country in the middle of the pandemic in 2020. I am not so sure that they would have done the same for any other country.
The onus is on the Indian board
Inorder for women’s cricket to survive, it is important that the BCCI supports the women of the country. This will help in improving the performance of the Indian women which inturn will bring in more spectators to watch. It is not an exaggeration. If women’s cricket needs to survive and thrive, Indian women will have to perform. The results must be favourable. Only then will the spectators tune in to watch them play. The Indian women have had good results over the last couple of years but none of them were earth-shattering. They drew the test in England but lost miserably against Australia. Such flash in the pan performances will not help.
The Indian men did the unthinkable
A classic example is the men’s game. Cricket was a popular game even before India won the World Cup in 1983 but it really exploded only after Kapil Dev’s team created history on 25th June 1983. More people started to follow and play the game. Kapil’s team achieved the unthinkable and that helped in expanding the base significantly. The advent of satellite television in 1992 further added impetus to the sport and resulted in 2nd significant explosion. When it comes to the women’s game, the second part is already taken care of. They do not have to reinvent the wheel. It is the first part that they need to take care. In this, they cannot do that without the help of the parent body.
Far too many losses too quickly
They came quite close in 2018 when they lost to England by 9 runs. A game that the Indian women must have won. However, their performance in the 2022 World Cup has actually taken the game quite a few steps back. India failed to defeat any of the bigger teams. Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand. The 5 consecutive losses in New Zealand prior to the world cup did not help either. This most certainly brought down the level of expectation and it continued in the world cup.
How can this be changed? I do realise that the base for women in the country is not that wide enough like that of the men. They do not get the same facilities, be it in equipment, training, accommodation and others like that of the men. Hence, the women will have to break the ceiling. They will have to demand better treatment from the board through their performance. They cannot afford to sit back and wait for the board to evolve. It is certain that the board will not. Women will have to consistently defeat better nations like Australia & England. If they had won the world cup, it would have forced the BCCI to do something for them but they not only failed in their quest but they did not even qualify for the semi-finals. It was the bare minimum that was expected.
Kapil’s men are the inspiration
Kapil’s men broke the ceiling in 1983. Until then, the men weren’t paid well. Yet, they played because of their passion for the game and unconditional love for the country. Much the same is expected of the women too. Will they be able to transcend all the shortcomings and rise above expectations? Until then, they cannot anticipate anything noteworthy from the board. I know it is tough and difficult but it is not impossible.
Conclusion to women’s world cup any takers?
BCCI does not care much about the women’s game. They never bothered and they are not going to bother in the future as well. For the board, it is money that speaks. They pretty well know that women’s game is not going to earn them revenue and hence, they do not want to invest time and money onto that. Unless this attitude is changed, women’s cricket will suffer.
In this, I will also include the ICC. Women are still playing 4-day tests. The boundary is significantly shorter. It is like the 30-yard circle is the boundary. All of these things must change. Women must play the game in the same way men play. They say that they are ready to play for 5 days with bigger boundaries. Let it be.
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