Let me begin by asking a rather simple question, what were you doing when you were seventeen years old?
Well, seventeen years old Shefali Verma recently rose to the top of the rankings after scoring a quickfire 60 off 30 balls against South Africa in the recently concluded T20 series between the two sides. Although India lost the series 2-1, Verma once again gave a glimpse of what she can do with the bat.
Since making her debut against South Africa in 2019 at the age of fifteen, Verma has amassed over 600 runs at a strike rate of 148.31 in 22 matches.
Shefali Verma struggled her way through to the Indian team, from playing a tournament disguised as a boy to becoming the world's best batter, she has indeed taken a long journey.
Verma was an unknown face when she was picked to play for team Velocity in the Women's T20 Challenge in 2019. She Impressed Daniel Wyatt, the English all-rounder, who rightly predicted that Verma would make her India debut within a year.
Verma's story tells us that if given an opportunity to showcase their talent on a platform as big as the Women's T20 Challenge, Indian girls can also shine.
It's then really flabbergasting that the Board for Control in Cricket in India (BCCI) has been disinclined to expand the women's T20 league to include more matches and increase the number of teams.
The current format of the Women's T20 Challenge with just three teams and four matches don't do justice to the talent available in the country. Many young players don't even get the opportunity to play in the league since each team plays only two games (final excluded).
There's no reason why the BCCI can't expand the league; over the last four years, women's cricket in India has seen massive growth in terms of its popularity.
Since featuring in the final against England in the 2017 cricket world cup, the Indian Eves also reached the semifinals of the 2018 T20 world cup and the finals of the 2020 T20 world cup.
Their performance is a testament to the fact that there is no dearth of talent in women's cricket and if given an opportunity to play more, new talents would emerge.
But the BCCI has remained reluctant to increase the number of teams, citing the dearth of enough players in the domestic circuit who can compete with international players, but this reasoning is more of an excuse than anything else since the Women's Senior One Day Trophy itself has 37 domestic teams.
BCCI's overall approach towards women's cricket has been disappointing in the last year. They cancelled the England tour last summer even after ECB agreed to host the Indian team in a bio bubble. The winter tour to Australia was also pushed to the later stages of 2021. The BCCI didn't give any updates regarding these decisions.
The men's team on the other hand played a full-fledged IPL, toured Australia for an all-format series, and just played a series against England at home.
The Indian women's team on the other hand featured in just 4 games of the Women's T20 Challenge held in November 2020. Then they played their first international match exactly after 364 days against South Africa in Lucknow on 6th March 2021.
Starting 9th April, the Indian men's team members will feature in the 14th edition of the Vivo IPL, i.e., they would be playing their 2nd IPL in 4 months, while the women's team is still waiting for an update on their next fixture.
Down Under, Women Big Bash League was conducted smoothly in January-February, and it featured all the big names of the game. New Zealand too played their domestic T20 Smash cup. The English players will feature in the inaugural edition of The Hundred in the summer.
I'm afraid that this lacklustre approach from the board towards women's cricket in India would mean that the Indian Eves would fall far behind the likes of Australia, England, and New Zealand where the cricket boards have invested a great amount of money in women's cricket development, the Big Bash League and the Hundred are products of that investment.
This year is the right time to expand the Women's T20 league to include more matches and more teams, as there's a world cup scheduled in New Zealand in a year. With uncertainties because of Covid, it's only fair that the BCCI gives enough opportunities to players to showcase their talent. If the Indian players won't play more games how are the selectors supposed to select the right squad for the world cup which could challenge the top teams in the competition?
Harmanpreet Kaur, India's T20I captain has been pushing for a full- fledged women's IPL but it has fallen on deaf ears in the BCCI.
India's legend and world's premium fast bowler Jhulan Goswami too has advocated for a women's IPL but it too did not affect the BCCI'S office bearers.
Overseas cricketers have admitted that leagues like the Big Bash and the Kia Super League helped them improve their game, "the best play against the best and that is what you want outside of international cricket. It has changed women's cricket and truly made it a global sport for all girls and women. As a player, you grow and learn so much in these leagues", said the South African captain in an interview with ANI.
This reflects that the Indian women too would benefit from a T20 league of their own, it need not be the size of the IPL, as the 2016 T20 World Cup-winning Captain, Taylor also puts it "I think that a similar set up to that of men's IPL will be ideal (to make women's game a success). However, the duration should be shorter than the men's" in the same interview with the ANI.
The IPL motto says, "Yatra Pratibha Avsara Prapnotihi" meaning "where talent meets opportunity", wonder when the BCCI would realise that if we have to unearth more Shefalis', women's cricket in India too needs a trophy with the same motto imprinted on it.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Write a comment ...