Women and Cricket - A Women's Day Special

In 2019, the BCCI announced the Women’s T20 Challenge with three teams. The dates collided with the final stages of the IPL. This piece of news didn’t particularly pique my interest, though I did make a mental note to keep tabs on the tournament. The tournament progressed and one match was scheduled to take place in Jaipur. That day as I was swiping through stories on Instagram, I stumbled upon a piece of news that said that tickets were being issued for free at the Sawai Mansingh because nobody was interested to pay to watch women play. That broke my heart.

In 2020, my resolution was to keep a tab on the women’s game as well. India started the year with a tri-series against England and Australia down under. This was a prelude to the Women’s T20 World Cup which was also scheduled to take place in Australia. The most significant thing about this tournament was the campaign of #FilltheMCG. It was undertaken to break the world record of the most number of spectators at a women’s sporting event. The target was a whopping 90,186 people.

The World Cup commenced on 21st February. One interesting feature of this edition of the World Cup was the inclusion of the Thailand team. In an interview, when asked about which two teams she would love to see in the final, the captain of the Thailand team said that she is supporting everyone and that she knows that the other teams will beat them simply because they were far more experienced. The character and flavour that this Asian team brought to the tournament cannot be justified in words. The respect that they bestowed upon their opponents was humbling and the way they cherished each and every wicket was joyous to watch. They might have not won the cup, but they definitely won our hearts.

As the tournament, progressed one could watch brilliant displays of cricket. The batting, bowling and the fielding were all world class. But there was a hiccup on the day of the semi finals as rain played spoilsport and washed out the first match. India qualified automatically to the finals. Australia played South Africa in the other match as soon as there was some respite from the rain. As usual, the Proteas did not qualify for the final. But the words from the team’s captain, Dane van Niekerk, were resounding. She said that she would rather have lost than get a free pass to the finals. That spells character.

A sweet gesture from the Australian men’s team was to release an in-form Mitchell Starc from their tour of South Africa to go watch his wife play the World Cup in front of her home crowd. Everything about this World Cup just seemed to scream Women Empowerment.

March 8th, 2020 dawned bright and sunny, an absolutely beautiful day to play the finals. Australia wanted to win their fifth title whereas India were aspiring to clinch their first ever ICC trophy. Australia won the toss and chose to bat first at the MCG in front of a crowd that was roaring, pumped up after Katy Perry’s opening performance. Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney walked in to bat. What followed was probably Australia’s biggest dream and India’s worst nightmare. Healy, who had just returned to form, smashed the fastest half century in the history of ICC tournament finals (both men and women). It is personally one of the best ever innings I have seen and it did remind me a bit of Maxwell when he gets going for his BBL team, the Melbourne Stars. It was almost bittersweet when she got out. Sweet because at the end of the day, I am rooting for India and bitter because the show had ended. Her opening partner, Beth Mooney, also piled up the runs and Australia ended up with 180 odd runs.

Though India’s brilliant, sixteen year opener, the then No.1 batter in T20I cricket, Shefali Verma had stellar numbers against the Aussie pacers, she did not make it past the first over that day. Despite not having lost a single game till then, the rest of the Indian batting line up followed suit. But what stands out is the way all the Indian ladies, especially the captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, stuck up for their teammates. It was simply a heart-warming gesture to not pick on any of her teammates despite a heart-breaking defeat. Though the skipper is counting her days until retirement, she said that the majority of her team was young and they had a lot of time to bring the cup home.

Similarly, the Australian team did not stop with winning the trophy. Their superstar, Ellyse Perry, had missed out on the finals because of an injury. Despite being caught up with celebrations, they made it a point to run back to the dug outs so that Pez could also be included in their merriment.

But that day wasn’t meant for cricket. It was International Women’s Day and a statement was made. A crowd setting equivalent to that of a men’s final with a colossal 86,000 people in attendance, falling only 4,000 short of the world record. A brilliant set of elite commentators with the likes of Ian Bishop, Nasser Hussain and Harsha Bhogle who added a bit more magic with their words. A carnival like atmosphere, buzzing with electricity, as the crowds, with families, were there to watch women play. A once in a lifetime event for many present, including the players themselves. When the crowd collectively did the wave, it was an emotional high for everyone watching. That day proved that women and sport weren’t parallel lines, in fact they were intertwined.

India lost that day. As an Indian fan, that sucks so much. But women won. And that felt so darn good.

So here is to making a million more statements! Wishing all the amazing, fantastic and extraordinary women, a very Happy Women’s Day!

P.S. By any chance, if you have missed out on this gorgeous World Cup, two beautiful documentaries have been released on it. Beyond Boundaries is available on Netflix and The Record is available on Amazon Prime Video.