'Oh, so close, yet so far', 'We are with you' – India’s exit from the Women’s World Cup led to similar reactions, like it has every other time since the wave of social media support for the team emerged over the last few years.
The South Africa match was a game of margins and the Indian team was found wanting in closing out those loops. If they had taken the catch or not bowled a no-ball… it was a case of what-ifs. Sadly, international cricket cannot be played by glossing over the mistakes you make. You need to own up to your errors and allow for corrective measures to be made for the same.
However, the problem with India's women’s cricket – it is not a commentary on its early exit from the World Cup – is much deeper than the loss to South Africa or the many issues in the team and selection which cropped up during the tournament.
The Indian team on the field was found wanting, but the 'Indian team off the field' has been lacking in purpose and direction for over a period of time.
What is this Indian team which we have never heard about, you might ask?
Well, this Indian team is the officialdom which controls the fortunes of the players across age-groups and across genders. Unfortunately, when it comes to women’s cricket, this officialdom has been waiting for things to happen, rather than make it happen. They have tried to react rather than act and that has resulted in India’s women’s team struggling at all times.
Let us step back a bit and look at just where the problem started.
Back in 2005, when the merger of men’s and women’s cricket happened at the global level, India as usual was resistant. Much like most other things in cricket, India decided to stay out initially. There was resistance from the members of the officialdom, who felt that the women’s cricket was a ‘burden’ and did not add to the whole system.
It was only when Sharad Pawar took over as the BCCI president that he saw value, or had the vision, to push for a merger across all levels. The state associations and members had no option but to accept Pawar’s diktat. They all fell in line immediately, albeit half-heartedly. You saw that in the way the Indian team was put together and the domestic calendar was developed as there was general disinterest in their affairs.
Then when N Srinivasan took over as BCCI president, the women's team took a backseat completely. This despite the fact India had an opportunity to host the 2013 World Cup. This should have been a great vehicle to get people interested and invested in the women’s game. But sadly, there was pushback from the officialdom.
All through this, one fear prevailed in England, New Zealand, and Australian cricket circles that the day BCCI gets its act together, they would rule the women’s game. Even at the ICC level, there was belief that the women’s game would get a huge fillip if BCCI wakes up to the sport. Sadly, BCCI did not!
However, when the Committee of Administrators (CoA) got into power through the Supreme Court, the women’s game start receiving proportionate attention. That too because one of the CoA members was former India captain Diana Edulji. While at times Edulji came in for severe criticism from the erstwhile members of the officialdom, her presence helped matters.
Then the team made it to the 2017 World Cup final and everyone started looking at India’s women’s game differently. Since then, India’s women have become names to reckon with and this is no credit to the officialdom. The girls put in the effort and have reaped the rewards.
India made to the T20 World Cup final in Australia in 2020 and again there was much hype around the side. But then the pandemic hit and everyone forgot the women’s game.
While other sides made an effort to play or get back on the field, India’s female cricketers were forgotten. So much so that even the payment owed to them for making it to the final of the T20 World Cup was paid after a leak about the delay in a British newspaper!
There is a loose Future Tours Programme (FTP) in place under the aegis of the ICC, by which teams are scheduled to play a specific number of ODIs under the Women’s Championship. But the matches in other formats are organised on an ad-hoc basis. Here, the BCCI has taken two steps forward and two steps back over the last couple of years.
As a result of this lack of attention, coaches have been changed on the whims and fancies of senior pros. Coaches have got into a scrap with the senior players and it has gotten ugly. For some strange reason the coach who was removed was brought back and was in the dressing room again for this World Cup!
Thus far, women’s cricket has been flying under the radar, because there has just been no supervision. They will continue to be under-performers as long as there is continued social distancing from the women’s game.
What the women’s team rather than women’s cricket actually needs are the following:
A foreign head coach
A full-fledged women’s cricket department expressly looking at their game
A full-time Director of Cricket for the women’s game
Contracts for players at levels, irrespective of age-groups
A proper fleshed out domestic cricket calendar
Only if some or all of these suggestions are implemented will India ever start threatening the big girls in the sport. Till this happens, India will continue to waffle and have near misses like it has had over the years. South Africa and West Indies have improved majorly, so they could be the big threats in the years ahead. If India has to continue being in the top four in women’s cricket, now is the time to act.
A full-fledged women’s cricket department will ensure that the game is constantly being looked at and a system is being put in place. This department will need a leader who could be called by whatever name, but should be paid to perform. It can be a former player from India or abroad, who is expressly concerned with driving the women’s game and ensuring that it is not ad-hoc anymore.
Most importantly the women’s game should have contracts not just for the national team, but for players across all age-groups, at all levels especially those playing for the State Associations. You need to incentivize more girls to get involved in the sport and that can only happen if there is a proper security for them to consider this sport as a profession. Finally, the financial security is of no use if there is no calendar of matches. The domestic calendar needs to be spelt out and should be more well-defined. This will ensure that the players are match-ready at all times.
Token T20 matches vaguely called 'Challenge' with motley crew of players put together at the last minute is hardly the way forward for the women’s game in India. Those three or four games do nothing to help the cause of women’s cricket and are just a blip on the radar.
The plans to have a proper six-team Women’s IPL has been floated (once again by sources). While private enterprise will give a new leg-up to the game, the fact is if the officialdom does not implement the suggestions mooted above, the franchises will have no supply chain to bank on for their investments.
So, the time to act is now!
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)