How women’s cricket won over Karnataka’s girls

Bengaluru: A heartbreaking loss, oftentimes, does more wonders than a stirring victory. One such ‘so close, yet so far’ episode took place in 2017 when the Indian women’s cricket team fell short by nine runs against hosts England at the Lord’s in the 50-over World Cup final. 

Captain Mithali Raj and her girls’ march to the summit clash had created an unprecedented buzz across the country with more people than ever glued to their television screens praying for the Women in Blue to lift their first ICC trophy. The despair of the dramatic Indian loss was shared by many, tears flowed aplenty, but what it also did was ignite a flame and set the stage for bigger spectacles from female Indian cricketers - who until then had remained in the shadows of their male counterparts.

The hunger, drive and the need to prove a point was the kind of tectonic shift women’s cricket, especially in India, was experiencing. What was once an invisible or mostly silenced movement, had now turned into a boisterous new wave. 

The resurgence showed once again in 2020, when Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached yet another final -- T20 World Cup -- but this time lost to hosts Australia by 85 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The girls’ knock on the doors of opportunity was getting louder. And the answer came in the form of the Women’s Premier League -- a francise-based tournament in line with the men’s Indian Premier League -- in 2023 which is now being described as a landmark moment.

The journey from being in obscurity to making it the norm might have taken over 50 years (note: the first-ever senior women’s nationals was held in 1973 in Pune with three teams), but the Indian women’s cricket team, led by Harmanpreet, winning their maiden ICC ODI World Cup in Navi Mumbai in November last year was the long-awaited pinnacle finally scaled. Prior to the senior team’s achievement, the junior girls clinching back-to-back ICC Under-19 T20 World Cups (inaugural event in 2023 and the second edition in 2025) was a much required flex.  

The real victory, however, of all these efforts and successes at the top of the pyramid is when it begins to reflect at the base of it - the grassroots. And what better way to qualitatively measure the growth of a sport than to take a look at where it all begins for most athletes – the summer camps. 

In April, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) organised open trials for girls in Raichur, Hubballi, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Mangaluru and Tumakuru with an intention to select 25 youngsters each for the senior and junior categories. The group of 50 would then attend a summer camp before inducting them into KSCA academies in each of these cities. The heads of the state’s cricket body expected a good response. But the turnout amazed even those at the helm of the programme.   

“Honestly, we thought 15 girls would turn up and we will have to somehow add 10 more to make it 25,” Santosh Menon, KSCA secretary, told DHoS. 

“We discussed that if we don’t get the numbers, we could club two zones. But then, more than 200 girls participated in the trials in each zone! We picked 50 girls, that’s a total of 300, who underwent a four-week summer camp in May and are now in the academies training regularly. And this is excluding Bengaluru,” Menon said. 

If the interest and attendance outside of Bengaluru were impressive, one can only imagine the hike in enrollments in the capital which has around 1,500 to 1,600 private cricket academies. And with 12,000-15,000 academies across the Karnataka, doing the math could take a while. 

“I really don’t have a count. In fact, it’s becoming tough to accommodate every parent’s request of wanting their daughter to get cricket coaching,” offered Irfan Sait, veteran coach and director of Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC).

“Even before I started my academy, Mamatha Maben (former India captain) walked to the club practice at KSCA B ground (in the late 1980s). She was my first girl student. There was instant friction with many asking why train girls? But for me, it was never a girl or a boy. Always a cricketer. Later Pramila Bhat (ex India player) walked in. A few years later, I had to convince a father as to why his daughter needs to play cricket. Luckily, he agreed and she went on to be known as Nooshin Al Khadeer (former India player, now national coach of U-19 women’s team). And here we are today and the rise of women’s cricket has been wonderful to witness.” 

Surprisingly, the case was much the same even as recently as five years ago, said Arjun Dev, founder and head coach of NICE academy in the city. 

“When I was playing, there was one girl here and there practicing with the guys. When we (himself and Kiran Uppoor) opened our academy five years ago, Shreyanka (Patil) and Vrinda (Dinesh) were the only two girls. Today, there are about 40 girls - outnumbering the boys. Around 15-20 of them are playing some level of state cricket and last year we had seven or eight of our girls in the senior state team. Earlier, we would struggle to make those few girls play competitive games because a team requires 11 players. But now we field two teams or more at tournaments,” shared Dev. 

From the first Indian women’s cricket team captain Shantha Rangaswamy to Mamatha, followed by Veda Krishnamurthy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and the younger crop of Shreyanka, Vrinda, Niki Prasad, Kashvi Kandikuppa, among others, Karnataka has been the pioneer in women’s cricket that has taken off across the country. According to a recent study commissioned by BBC and Collective Newsroom, women playing cricket has doubled from 5 per cent to 10 per cent in 14 states since 2020 with 26 per cent among them aged between 15-24 saying they have considered a career in the sport. 

Another catalyst, the insiders point out, was when the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) was merged into BCCI in 2006. It opened doors for female players to access training facilities, national coaching academies and grounds meant only for men previously. 

Additionally, factors such as BCCI implementing pay equity policy - that grants equal match fee to centrally contracted female cricketers in international formats as their male counterparts – in October 2022, improved tournament structure - both in respective states and the domestic national schedule - have contributed to the growth. 

The improved accessibility, visibility, financial benefits and exposure has instilled a sense of trust among parents who believe cricket for their daughters could be a real career option or at least a sure shot personality development activity. In a society where the mother and father dictate the course of their children’s lives, the shift in their mindset is refreshing. 

“She enjoyed playing cricket with the boys near our house and I observed she was good at it. I want her to pursue her dreams,” said a father of an eight-year-old daughter who stepped into a coaching centre a month ago. “I wanted to play cricket but my parents didn’t allow me to pursue it. I want to give my girl that opportunity,” said a mother of a teenage daughter. “When I see bruises on her body, it bothers me. But that is making her a strong person. People criticise us for putting our only child through all of this, but we know cricket will shape her life in a positive way,” expressed another mother of a budding female cricketer.

All of it is proof enough that women’s cricket in the country is accelerating at top speed. The women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales begins on June 12. Do not be surprised if more girls turn up at the maidans and gullys to play India’s most loved sport to further announce: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, a game of cricket is for everyone!’.  

The Karnataka team after winning the BCCI Under-19 Women