In the last T20 World Cup, the Indian Women’s team won the hearts of the common people by beating Pakistan with nothing but competence and efficiency. It has always been exciting to see India-Pakistan Cricket. All the Cricket fans stop their breath while waiting for the final result. Something like that happened when Richa Ghosh and Rodrigues partnered to beat their opponent in the World Cup in Newland, Cape Town.
After the Live match between the two teams, the Indian people celebrated this day as a great victory and a milestone in the Indian Women’s Cricket team. This year, the women’s team got off to a great start, played powerfully throughout the game, and beat Pakistan’s 149/4 runs.
The Formation of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team
Now, with the final result of the T20 World Cup, the Indian Women’s Cricket Team has become the hot topic of the town. Though people have undermined all these years, the 2023 T20 World Cup has resurfaced the question of how the Indian Women’s Cricket team formed.
India is one of the countries where Cricket is a religion, and the players are like Gods. But what about the Goddesses who try hard to win and make their country proud? India, a country that discusses gender equality, has come with the boon of forming an Indian Women’s Cricket team. All this goes back to the 70s when some enthusiastic and bold women put on their socks and decided to form their Cricket team.
At first, the sports team was an informal one. But later, an enterprising gentleman, Mr Mahendra Kumar Sharma, a supporter and founder, registered the Women’s Cricket Association of India under the Societies Act in 1973. It was the first-ever official step taken to form the Indian women’s cricket team.
Between 1970 t0 1973, Indian Women were busy with a lot of cricket activity. They used to play for nine months out of a year. The first Women’s interstate Nationals happened in Pune in 1973. The first game took place in Uttar Pradesh, Bombay, and Maharashtra. After the second inter-state nationals game, the number of teams became eight.
After the success of the inter-state Nationals, the Indian Women’s Cricket team also started playing tournaments, making another milestone in the history of Indian Women’s Cricket. The first inter-zonal tournament, Rani Jhansi Trophy, was organised at Kanpur in 1974. The winner of the games played for the Priyadarshini trophy, and the winners of the Nationals played for the Rou’s Trophy.
When the Indian Women’s Team won at the domestic level, the first bilateral women’s Cricket happened in 1975. When the Australia U-25 team visited India, they played the first game in Delhi, Pune and Calcutta. Later The Women’s Cricket team, popularly known as the Women in Blue, made their ODI debut in 1978. Australia, England and New Zealand were the other Women’s teams to play at the ODI. After years of struggle, the Indian team won its first ODI series in 1995, making it one of the biggest reasons to inspire Indian women to leave their mark on Indian Cricket.
From being a small unofficial team, vague and unnoticed, to becoming a team that reached the finals in 2005 and 2017, the Indian Women’s cricket team has come a long way. This year’s win in the T20 World Cup marks the dedication of all those years, making women more inspired to pursue their careers as sportswomen.
An Overview of The T20 World Cup of 2023
The Indian team fought for 150 runs to win. India started with a power play, but the Pakistani Women’s team had been pretty amazing. The Indian opener Yastika Bhatia bagged seventeen runs from twenty balls.
Shefali Verma, another prominent Cricketer of the Indian Cricket team, quickly passed fifty when the country was in seven overs. However, India got a blow when Shefali got dismissed after making eighty-five runs in ten overs. No one thought the day would bring the World Cup home.
However, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues later came to strengthen the team again. But the departure of the skipper made it even more difficult for the team to win the day. The team was now in need of fifty-five runs. The partnership of Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues helped India to show its glory to the world.
Even though the Indian team showed a power play on the day, the Pakistani team quickly recovered with Bismah Maroof and Muneeba Ali. After that, however, the girls in green lost two wickets when Pooja Vastrakar and Radha Yadav performed greatly in back-to-back overs.
But Bismah Marrof bagged a fifty while Aysha Naseem’s efficient batting helped the girls in green to gain 149 runs in twenty overs.
The Indian team’s efficient way of playing helped the players to gain a remarkable victory. After the victory, Ravichandran Ashwin tweeted, “high-quality run chase this from BCCI Women. Jemina and Richa were fantastic, but what stuck out was how quiet the dressing room was when we needed 40 from 4 overs.”
VVS Laxman also praised the team’s effort to play the game. He also mentioned the remarkable performance of Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh for their thrilling performance.
After the game’s final result, the Pakistani Women Skipper Bismah Maroof praised the Indian team’s performance. “We were in the game all the time, but they played well.” She stated.
When asked about the great game played by the Indian team, the player of the match, Jemimah Rodrigues, stated, “Richa and I have built a partnership against Bangladesh, and we could do this today.” She also went on dedicating the success to her parents.
How Is The Women’s Cricket Team Changing Shaping Indian Cricket?
Cricket has always been an identity of India. Till now, the men’s team has been the pride of India. But the time has changed. The Indian team has been coming to the front foot during the past few months. With players like Mithali Raj showing the way, the under-nineteen Cricket team has made a new record as an Indian Cricket team.
Conclusion
The Indian Cricket team has been a matter of pride for the country for a long time. However, with the Indian Women’s team getting the winner’s trophy in the last under nineteen World Cup, it has been clear that Indian Cricket is in good hands. Also, it has helped the team to come out with a new sense of pride for the Indians. Now, the Indian Female team can also bring back the trophy.
For more sports updates stay hooked to Panchayiti
;
Leave a Reply