Sports India Cricket – Indian Cricket Dives into Premium Multisport Ocean At the Commonwealth Games, the Harmanpreet Kaur team has a chance to step out of the shadow of the men’s team onto a stage that cricket does not frequent. A strong performance will fuel growing interest in women’s football at home and deal a blow to gender equality.

Timing: With talk of the women’s IPL gaining momentum and the WBBL and The Hundred attracting top Indian names, the CWG couldn’t have come at a better time for women cricketers in the country. | photo credit: PTI

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All eyes on us: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur says the CWG will be a ‘game changer’ allowing the team to showcase cricket and their collective talent. | Photo credit: Getty Images

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Adding to your quiver: Smriti Mandhana likes to talk to competitors from other disciplines at the Games Village and learn about their training methods. | Photo credit: Getty Images

Cricket is unique. It is a team game where individual excellence not only defines its players, but often overrides the team itself. It seeks a global presence without compromising the privileges of its powers. It is a sport that prides itself on its adherence to tradition, yet it has changed its shape and form. And in India, it is a sport that is distinguished by more – religion, business, entertainment, celebration.

For these and other reasons, cricket has moved away from the multidisciplinary events that celebrate sporting excellence – the Olympics, the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games. While the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games featured cricket, with a return scheduled for 2022 – minus India -, the game’s first and modest appearance at the Commonwealth Games was in Malaysia, in 1998.

So far has the sport from its current avatar with India’s current captain Harmanpreet Kaur nine years old, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble at the peak of their respective careers and Shafali Verma just over five years from conception. . So, when India’s players left for Birmingham earlier this week, they were in an enviable position: no history to judge, just the chance to pioneer a future where sharing facilities in a gaming village will not exist. there will be more. a curiosity for cricketers.

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“This is going to be a game changer in the future. This is the first time we are participating in an event of this magnitude. It is a great platform for our girls to be with so many athletes in so many sports and it is also a opportunity for us to showcase our sport and our talent,” said Harmanpreet.

This is an unprecedented opportunity for the women’s team. In 1998, the 50 over version was played, by men only, with the cricketing world divided over the significance of the event. The Board of Control for Cricket in India was initially reluctant and then wanted to send a B team, ahead of the Sahara Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan in Toronto. Participation was secured only after much persuasion and coercion from the Indian Olympic Association – especially then President Suresh Kalmadi, who was steadfast in his position on Tendulkar’s inclusion – and the government.

There are 16 teams, with various West Indian countries freely participating. The Indian team was split in two – one competing in Kuala Lumpur, the other in Toronto – and the CWG performance ended on a disappointing note. Ajay Jadeja’s unit won just one out of three league games (there was one without a result) and failed to make it to the knockout rounds despite the presence of the likes of Tendulkar, Kumble and V.V.S. Laxman.

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This time, it was a shorter, more competitive event, with eight teams playing T20s. “All of us as cricketers have watched the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, seen the national flag fly high and the national anthem played. This is a chance for us too and it’s a matter of pride,” insisted head coach Ramesh Powar.

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India are tied with Australia, Pakistan and Barbados in Group A, with the team starting as the only favorites against Pakistan. “This tournament is very important for us and we will definitely fight for a medal. We have grown up watching these events and we are happy that we also have this opportunity,” said Harmanpreet.

The tone and tenor was a far cry from the reluctant, protestant turnout of 24 years ago. In some ways, it’s also representative of the changing landscape of sports, both globally and at home. While cricket has clearly become a giant above all others in the country, public interest in other sports, especially during multidisciplinary events, has grown exponentially. India’s consistent, albeit small, successes also played a role.

Other cricket powers, including Australia and New Zealand, continued to support and push for inclusion. And with existing markets other than India approaching or on the brink of stagnation, the powers that be are constantly on the lookout for new ones. The wave of T20 leagues across the planet only indicates the same.

What makes things different this time around is the opportunity it presents for India’s women cricketers to step out of the shadows of their male counterparts, on their own terms, into a stage that men seem to undervalue as other parts of the world. . he does. And a good performance at that stage can only help accelerate the achievement of gender equality, in opportunities and emoluments. It will also fuel the growing interest in women’s cricket at home.

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With talk of a women’s IPL gaining traction and the likes of the Big Bash League and The Hundred attracting top Indian names – unlike men, Indian women are allowed to play in other franchise league – the CWG couldn’t have come at the right time for the indian women. That also explains the appointment of a full-strength roster for the event.

What is also unique about this occasion is the location. The 1998 edition was held in Kuala Lumpur, a city not big on cricket, on poorly prepared and hastily constructed pitches. The interest is mainly from expats who know the sport and the players. This time, with the games being played at Edgbaston at a suitable venue in a country known for cricket, the levels of interest and competition are expected to be even higher.

The change, in some ways, also reflects the way perceptions of the sport have changed. How India went from being a country, in foreign minds, of dusty roads, stray cows and the infamous Delhi Belly to being the first stop for every professional cricketer, the -reluctance of Indian cricket also gave way to an excited curiosity, cautious. , through multidisciplinary events.

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“This is new not only for me, but for the whole team, we have never participated in an event related to other sports. It’s very new and we don’t know much about Vila dos Jogos yet, so we’re not sure how much we’ll be able to go around and mingle with the other athletes. But I want to talk to other athletes about the kind of training they do, try to get to know their sports and share their experiences,” said vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.

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It’s new, definitely. Smriti added that the team is still processing the shift from aiming for the trophy as a win to aiming for the podium and medals, keeping in mind the subtle but big change in targets. A big role in this change in perception was played by one man – Neeraj Chopra, and his Olympic gold.

Although the Olympic champion exited the CWG with a strain, he remains the favourite. Powar wanted to pick Neeraj and two-time Olympic champion P.V. Sindhu’s brains for handling pressure – “both have set the bar high and I want to get into their minds and their preparations and exchange notes on how they handle pressure from an entire country”, she said – and Smriti cites the success of the Neeraj moment as the motivation to do good.

“I literally got goosebumps when the national anthem was played and the flag was raised after Neeraj won it at the Olympics. We all watch these events and we all know the feeling when the Indian flag is hoisted and that is what we expect from it. We are clearly aiming for gold, not just a podium,” she revealed.

And Harmanpreet hopes to cheer on Indian athletes from other sports, something an independent cricket tournament can never offer. “I can really imagine it. Now it’s not just about cricket. We want to celebrate every medal we win”, he declared.

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There is an apocryphal story of hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay being asked what he had that Sachin Tendulkar didn’t. Pillay probably replied, “I am an Olympic athlete, a gold medalist in the Asian Games. He can never be one.” The CWG may not be in the same league as the Olympics, but the Indian women’s team has a chance

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