Women's cricket: In deseprate need of promotion

The Indian women’s cricket team are playing their first Test in 8 years this week

In my 20 years of existence, there have been quite a few occasions where I am talking about cricket to a lady and the responses I got from them were not at all encouraging. Simple responses included “I don’t care about cricket.” or “I don’t like cricket” or “can we please talk about something else?” or “cricket, ugh”.

When we talk about global sports or the sports that are played and followed around the world, like football or tennis, one thing common about them is their popularity among the women. 50% of the world’s population comprises of females and hence, for a sport to be universally followed, it is important that the sport should be appealing to women as well.

India is a patriarchal country and also demographically, a male-dominated country. Even though cricket is known to be followed as a religion in this country, it is no exception. Cricket as a sport in India is mainly followed by males. I admit there are females who do like to watch cricket, but the general trend I have observed is that the following is for a particular player or a team rather than the sport. Thus, the appeal of cricket in a cricket-crazy nation like India also seems restricted.

Even though the administrators in India have not made enough efforts to fix it, they certainly hold an important key that might very well help in this cause: Women’s cricket.

Women’s cricket has never been promoted the way men’s cricket has been over the years, and perhaps will never be promoted in the same level. Thus, broadcasters and sports channels have never shown the same enthusiasm in telecasting women’s cricket. I personally believe that the target audience for women’s cricket for making it more famous could be women themselves.

This may help women to connect more with the players and the game. India has produced some wonderful female cricketers such as Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. Promotion of their life stories could become a source of encouragement for young female cricketers who aspire to represent the Indian team in the future. It could help in striking a chord with women from around the nation.

From what I have observed, women, in general barring exceptions, are reluctant to watch a sports channel. They might prefer watching a channel that shows daily soaps and other entertainment programmes. Most of the daily soaps telecast their new episodes at prime time. Thus, in the afternoon, repeat telecasts are mostly shown. In my opinion, the afternoon slot in these channels could be used to telecast women’s cricket. This will help in improving the accessibility of women’s cricket on TV.

T20 leagues based on the Indian Premier League for women may help in giving opportunities to young cricketers to showcase their talent. It may also help in developing an interest for cricket among women. The BCCI needs to invest more money into women’s cricket. The involvement of the corporate class may help in that respect. The incentive of money and employment can encourage women to see cricket as a career option.

Cricket and women haven’t had the best of relations till now, but there’s always a ray of hope. Perhaps a day will come when talking about cricket may not result in harsh comments. It is said that ‘behind every successful man there is a women’. It could be said that behind every globally famous sport there are women.