Sports Desk, AnyTV, New Delhi
Published by: Rohit Raj
Updated Sun, 27 Feb 2022 12:04 AM IST
Summary
Under the leadership of veteran player Mithali Raj, the Indian women’s team is in New Zealand to play the World Cup. Team India is eyeing to win the title for the first time. Mithali’s team is all set to create history by forgetting the last time they lost in the final in 2017.
women’s cricket in india
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Under the leadership of veteran player Mithali Raj, the Indian women’s team is in New Zealand to play the World Cup. Team India is eyeing to win the title for the first time. Mithali’s team is all set to create history by forgetting the last time they lost in the final in 2017. Women’s cricket started in India in the 1970s. Then some women had adopted cricket. It was not organized officially at that time.
Subsequently, the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) was registered under the Societies Act in Lucknow in 1973 under the chairmanship of Begum Hamida Habibullah. Its founding secretary was Mahendra Kumar Sharma. This came as a boon for many budding women cricketers. In the same year, the Indian Women’s Cricket Association also got the membership of the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC).
First women’s inter-state national competition in 1973
There was a lot of cricketing activity between 1970 and 1973. Women players were busy playing the game for nine months out of the 12 months of the year. In April 1973 the first women’s inter-state national competition was held in Pune. It was attended by three teams from Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Its second season was held in Varanasi later that year. The number of teams was then increased from three to eight.
The executive committee was reconstituted after the second inter-state national competition held at Varanasi. Then Chandra Tripathi became the chairperson and Pramilabai Chavan became the president. Both these women played a major role in the early development of women’s cricket along with the founding secretary Mahendra Kumar Sharma. By the time the third championship was held in Calcutta, the number of teams had increased to 14. After that all the states participated. Later Railways and Air India appointed women cricketers and they competed as separate teams.
Soon other tournaments also began to be held. An inter-regional limited overs tournament known as the Rani Jhansi Trophy was held in Kanpur in 1974. Inter-University tournament was also held in Rajkot in the same year. Sub-junior (under-15) and junior (under-19) tournaments were also organized. The winners of all the zones played Indira Priyadarshini Trophy. The champions of the national tournament faced the Rest of India team in the Rau Cup.
First bilateral women’s cricket series in 1975
After five years of domestic success, the first bilateral women’s cricket series was played in India in 1975. Then Australia’s Under-25 team came on a tour of India to play a three-match Test series. Three matches were played in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata. Interestingly, there were three captains for the three Test matches – Ujjwala Nikam, Sudha Shah and Srirupa Bose. After the Australia series, the Indian team played against New Zealand, England and West Indies in addition to their home grounds. Players from New Zealand, Australia and England played in skirts while players from Indian and West Indies played in trousers.
First international match in 1976
The Indian women’s team played its first international match against West Indies on 31 October 1976 in Bangalore. The test match played between the two teams ended in a draw. It was a six match test series. Both the teams had won one match each. The remaining four matches were drawn. Thus the series also ended in a draw. In those days, women’s Test matches used to end in three days.
Two years later, India made its ODI debut during the 1978 World Cup. A total of four teams participated in this tournament organized by India. Australia, New Zealand and England were the other three teams. Unfortunately, India’s performance was disappointing as they lost all three matches. The team led by Diana Edulji played their first ODI against England on January 1, 1978 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In 1978, the Indian Women’s Cricket Association was recognized by the International Women’s Cricket Council.