With an audience of more than 2.5 billion fans across the world, cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world. With such a huge fan base, cricket is a sport that is adored by everyone irrespective of a person’s age. We all have been through the childhood phase, where we loved our favorite cricketer and wanted to become a cricketer. The way a sport affects a whole world says a lot about its popularity. Out of these 2.5 billion fans, about 70% belong to India, and this shows how big of a deal it is for the country.
But as much as people love the Indian Cricket team and the game, they are not well aware of the Indian Women Cricket Team, and this shows the lack of knowledge and understanding in the country. The support that the Indian Women’s Cricket Team is getting now is very less as compared to the support that is given to the men’s team by the country. Nicknamed as ‘Women in Blue,’ Indian Women’s Cricket Team represents India in international women’s cricket.
The Beginning
Cricket was brought to India by the British in the early 1700s, and the first match ever played took place in 1721. The first Indian cricket team was formed in 1911, and it went for a game tour of England. The first-ever match between two women’s teams took place in 1934 between England and Australia; however, in India, the first women’s team from India played a test match in 1976. Before this, the Women’s Cricket Association team was formed in 1973 before the team began playing.
Later, International Cricket Council took the initiative to promote women’s cricket in the world and decided to merge the Women’s Cricket Association of India with the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the year 2006.
The women’s ‘battlefield’ in India
There have been several women’s matches ranging from ODIs to test games to T20 World Cups, and some of them have taken place in India as well. Let’s learn about how many matches have taken place in India that involved women’s cricket teams. Fourteen grounds in India have hosted women’s international test series matches. The first-ever test match took place on 31st October 1976 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Banglore. The first women’s T20I game took place in India at Bandra Kurla Complex Ground in Mumbai on 4th March 2010. Since then, about six Indian grounds have hosted women’s T20I matches.
Note: BCCI awarded contracts to women cricketers, and the pay is graded depending on the importance of the player. The salaries are ranked, and these are as follows:
- Grade A: ₹50 lakh (US$72,000) per annum
- Grade B: ₹30 lakh (US$43,000) per annum
- Grade C: ₹10 lakh (US$14,000) per annum
The Backstage Champions
To coordinate and coach a team that is capable of reaching the world cup finals takes a lot of effort and dedication by the players as well as by the support staff. The support staff of the Indian Cricket team is:
- Director of Cricket: Rajani Venugopal
- Head Coach: W.V. Raman
- Assistant Head Coach: Neetu David
- Batting Coach: Pramila Bhatt
- Batting Consultant: Mithali Raj
- Fast Bowling Coach: Amita Sharma
- Spin Bowling Coach: Nooshin Al Khadeer
- Bowling Consultant: Jhulan Goswami
- Youth Development Coach: Mamatha Maben
- Fielding Coach: Rita Dey
- Wicket Keeping Coach: Anju Jain
- Physiotherapist: Tracy Fernandes
- Fitness Trainer: Neelima Batav
- Analyst: Aarti Nalge
Indian Women’s Cricket Team
Indian Women Cricket Team consists of some fantastic players that have managed to make the team stand class apart. The team is made up of sorted and understanding players, and the coordination between them can be seen easily. The Indian Women Cricket Team is:
- Amita Sharma
- Ekta Bisht
- Gouher Sultana
- Jhulan Goswami
- Harmanpreet Kaur (T20I Captain)
- Karuna Jain
- Poonam Raut
- Mithali Raj (Test and ODI Captain)
- Nagarajan Niranjana
- Reema Malhotra
- Thirush Kamini
- Shubhlakshmi Sharma
- Sulakshana Naik
Indian Women Cricket Team Captain
The woman who is leading the marvelous Indian Women Cricket Team is Mithali Dorai Raj. Born on 3rd December 1982, Mithali is the captain of the Indian Women Cricket Team for tests and ODIs. She is the first woman to complete 20 years in international cricket.
Indian Women Cricket Team Coach
Woorkeri Venkat Raman is the coach of the Indian Women Cricket Team, and he was appointed for the role in December 2018. He is a former Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket for Tamil Nadu as a left-handed batsman. He retired from all sorts of cricket forms in the year 1999 and took a career in coaching players.
