Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Indian women lost the match but won many hearts' that was published in Newsband

Indian women lost the match but won many hearts
Women’s cricket in India reached a crescendo when India met England in the final at Lord’s in London. India lost by just nine runs. Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami proved to be towering figures. Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut and Harmanpreet Kaur are growing stronger. Raj topped the run charts with 409 runs. Deepti Sharma, only nineteen, has the potential to become one of the all-time great all-rounders; Shikha Pandey, has a controlled swing and was economical throughout the tournament.  
In the past month, what kept fans riveted was the imagery of Kaur’s hitting, Raj’s poise, Raut’s determination and Goswami’s perseverance. These are likely to stay etched.
Indian women's cricket team achieved this feat without much furore or craziness which we see in case of men's cricket team. The women team's achievement depends neither on mammoth board like BCCI nor any controversy surrounding the appointment of coaches. If the captains of both the teams are compared in terms of yearly earning, the women team is lagging far behind. It is time women are given equal status as men. They proved that they can and will rise to the occasion when needed.
There should be held bilateral tournaments throughout the year to make women’s cricket more attractive and catchy. Women cricket in India has come of age. The performance in the world cup is commendable. They should be rewarded for their achievement and good facilities must be provided to them for the future.
They played very well without enough facilities. The nation is proud of them. They are amazing players having a good energy. It is hoped that after seeing them some people will change their mentality about girls. Actually, the situation in many region of our country is not considered as good. Here, people treat girls as a burden. For a healthy society we must change that mentality.
Our women’s cricket team might not have won many trophies but over the decades, Indian eves have always been a force to reckon with. The two big differences I am seeing in the current team are the effusive talent and a determination to do well. Though one loathes the disproportionate attention to cricket in this country, one must welcome the women's cricket. BCCI, with its swelling coffers, should be more generous in popularizing women's cricket. It can conduct a Women's IPL all by itself even if sponsors are not found. To start with, it need not be as elaborate as the men's IPL; but, BCCI must hit the iron when it is hot.
It is only fit to say that this team came so close to winning but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. India (particularly Indian men) must stop belittling women - and that is the First thing needed for developing Women's Cricket or anything connected with women. Finally, as Shantha Rangaswamy said, “There has to be a will. Without follow- up action, this interest will just evaporate into thin air. The way Indian women's cricket reached the level they are now in, is an excellent portrayal of their determination - with Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswamy, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Raut standing a bit taller than others - although all of them (others) have contributed well enough to take Indian Women reach the present zenith. Women may not have the pure "muscle power" of men; but these superb young girls, under Mithali Raj have shown that they can combine human women power with skill and grace - equal to or even at greater levels than men.

The women's team got encouragement and appreciation on a grander scale than what it used to get from the discerning public. This speaks volumes about the performance of the team which it should "keep up" both in the interest the team and women's cricket at large. Indian side deserves every credit for its performance to stage it upto finals and lose the cup by just nine runs. The spirit and enthusiasm showed by the players was amazing and time is not far away for the team to be crowned as world champion in the years to come.

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