Focus on the girls for raising women's cricket

Here's part 2 of the feature I wrote for Wisden India.
Stalwarts like Mamtha Maben, Sudha Shah and Jhulan Goswami talk about ways they think women's cricket in the country can improve.

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Not bad, some would say. Not nearly enough, say the others.

The news that the BCCI has introduced an Under-23 tournament for women has been received with some excitement, but it’s tinged with disappointment. After all, they had said they would introduce both U-23 and U-16 tournaments and have delivered on only one.

But one tournament has been approved. Shouldn’t we be happy?

The answer is more complex than a simple yes or no.

Sudha Shah, former coach of the Indian team, puts it simply: “A girl’s span in cricket is much shorter than the men. So, logically, if they start off in school, they get to play longer. We need to find a way to get girls to start playing at least by the time they are 12 or 13 years old — an U-16 tournament is perfect for that.”

Most stalwarts of the game agree with that sentiment. Mamatha Maben, former India Women captain, says the BCCI “have let it slip” by holding back the U-16s, while Jhulan Goswami, the ace pacer, says the tournament is essential “to promote and encourage girls from the grassroot levels”.

There used to be an U-16 tournament all right, but it stopped once the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) merged with the BCCI, and Maben brings up the success of that event to underscore her point: “Today, look at Veda (Krishnamurthy), Thirush Kamini and (Vellaswamy) Vanitha. They played a lot of U-16 matches and that is where they honed their skills. It has paid dividends — they are now ready for the pressures of international cricket.”

Of late, there have been fewer young girls taking up the sport. Could this be due to the lack of a lower age-group tournament? There are, of course, exceptions — Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and R Kalpana, all teenagers, represented the country in the recent home series against New Zealand.

The South Zone (consisting of Andhra, Goa, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) holds an U-16 tournament. Shah, who is also part of the coaching and selection setup in Tamil Nadu, says that the initiative has reaped big rewards. The tournament is now in its sixth year and many of the girls have graduated into their respective U-19 and senior teams. “In the south, we have quite a few young girls coming through. I think the other zones should take a leaf out of our book. Our bench strength has grown, and this is certainly the way forward,” she points out.

Bengal has a similar tournament too. “We play lots of U-16 tournaments within the state, to promote young talent,” explains Goswami, captain of her state senior team. “All the coaching centres and district teams have lots of U-16 girls. These girls are practicing for the whole year, but unfortunately they don’t get a chance to play. We therefore organise tournaments to motivate them to take up cricket as a career.”

But it needs to end with a national U-16 – there are more things that could be done. As Maben, who has also coached national teams in China and Bangladesh, says: “I think if we start an all-India school-level tennis-ball tournament, it will really help. The girls will be playing with a softer ball, and they will improve their skills and form a basic technique.”

Although there have been many improvements in the game since 2006 (when the merger took place), India’s results haven’t been too consistent on the international stage. “Despite good performances at the domestic level, a lot of the players are finding it difficult to adjust at the international level,” observes Maben. She attributes this to flamboyant practices adopted to suit the Twenty20 game, and suggests playing longer formats to force players to tighten their technique. “The three-day inter-zonal tournament will really help, for it is the toughest format. You can get away in the T20s and ODIs with a dodgy technique, but in the longer format you cannot survive without skill. The pressure is relentless, with fielders all around,” she says, echoing what many former cricketers have said again and again about the modern-day men’s game.

Many women from the Under-21 Indian team that toured Pakistan in 2004, went on to represent the senior side. © AFP

Since adapting to international cricket has been an issue for this generation, Shah, who has been around the Indian team for a very long time, advocates more A matches for India Women. “An India A series will be good for our bench strength to get that exposure. When they do play for India, it won’t be a shock playing international cricket,” she says.

As a corollary to that, Mithali Raj, the India Women captain and a person who understands the pressures of playing international cricket better than most, suggests that a sports psychologist accompany the team.

Shah recalls the last India A (Under-21) series, a tour of Pakistan, way back in 2004, played under the WCAI. “Quite a few of the girls (from that tour) went on to play for India. They had international exposure at an early age, which really helped.”

“The BCCI is learning quickly, but it’s not all their responsibility”, says Goswami, adding that associations in the various states must do their part as well. “The success of women’s academies in Andhra and Himachal Pradesh are well documented, and it’s time other associations follow their lead”, explains the fast bowler.

“The Cricket Association of Bengal have extended their full support to the women’s team”, she continues. Their backing has shown in the team’s performances at all levels — the U-19 team finished as national champions (2014-15) and the senior one-day and T20 teams qualified for the Elite Group this season (2015-16).

Bengal’s success further suggests that with a little bit of interest and effort, the girls are capable of being the best. So more initiative from the state associations, more A tours, a national U-16 tournament and, who knows, things could get even better for India’s women cricketers.