While the cricket administrators and media have played a big role in popularising men’s cricket by providing them a huge support at the same time it has also meted “step-motherly” treatment to other sports, including women’s cricket, felt Shantha Rangaswamy, India’s first woman cricket captain.“Men’s cricket is given too much publicity. A big good innings by a batsman even in gully cricket gets highlighted while it is not the same for achievers in other sports. We got fairly good coverage in our times in newspapers but with electronic media coming up, I would say it is 99.5 per cent men’s cricket and 0.5 per cent for rest of the sports, including women’s cricket. This is step-motherly treatment towards all sports and I request you to kindly ensure more coverage to other sports,” urged Rangaswamy.Rangaswamy, who has been transferred as Divisional General Manager, Canara Bank, Nagpur recently, was interacting with the scribes in ‘Meet the Press’ organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) at its office in Vivekanand Nagar. The event was co-ordinated by Dilip Bhagde, Director, Lata Mangeshkar Hospital.Appreciating the merger of women’s cricket with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Rangaswamy also minced no words in highlighting the shortcomings. “It’s good for the girls. They are getting paid better now. In my career spanning more than twenty years, I earned nothing from the sport except name. Now, the standard of game has also improved with better facilities. But BCCI has failed on a couple of fronts.“They have stopped the Under-16 tournaments for girls. Cricketing life of a woman is very short and scrapping of U-16 cricket is a big mistake. “In fact, BCCI, the richest sports body in the world, should adopt about 5000 schools all over India to broaden the base for the bigger tournaments.”Women’s cricket is often termed boring and the first woman cricketer to get Arjuna Award came up with a few suggestions to make it more attractive. “May be we can shorten the boundary. We can even increase the number of powerplays which will bring field restrictions into play. Women’s tournaments should be promoted at smaller centres.”Rangaswamy said she would definitely take up her suggestions with the BCCI chief, Shashank Manohar, if she gets to meet him here. “The BCCI bosses are too busy with their work. But I am sure that others including Diana Eduljee and Shubhangi Kulkarni, who are in the board, have been presenting their views on development of women’s cricket. I would also take up the cause if I happen to meet the BCCI officials.”Rangaswamy termed the Indian Premier League “master stroke” as far as business and entertainment was concerned but lamented that it would shorten the career of players. “It is a master stroke as far as business strategy is concerned. They have added entertainment value and brought cricket in India at par with the English Premier League soccer in England and NBA Basketball League in the US. Even it has diverted the attention of die-hard family soap viewers.“But the slam bang nature of the sport is very dangerous for the next generation. It will make no harm to a Sachin (Tendulkar), Rahul (Dravid) or Jacques (Kallis), who can play any form of cricket but the young generation who are watching these cross-batted unorthodox shots will never learn the correct techniques and will fail in the longer formats or quit the game soon.”On the chances of Indian women’s team winning the Twenty20 World Cup next month Rangaswamy sounded positive. “In the last edition in 2005 we defeated Australia twice, in the league and then in the third place play-off. They are a much improved unit now and stand a very good chance of winning the title.”
Women have contributed a lot to men’s cricket
WOMEN have contributed a lot in the development of cricket, informed Rangaswamy. In a candid talk with mediapersons, the former India all-rounder said, “Cricket in its infancy was played with men and women together. They used to bowl under arm then. With the long skirts proving a hindrance for women while bowling, they tried to bowl over arm. Over arm bowling thus came into existence,” said Rangaswamy.“All know about Sachin (Tendulkar) becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in a One-Day game. But very few are aware of the fact that it was a woman, Australia’s captain Belinda Clark, who achieved the feat years ago that too at Mumbai in a World Cup game against Denmark in 1997. “The men’s Prudential World Cup was staged in 1975 in England but the women’s World Cup was hosted a couple of years (1973) earlier in the same country,” Rangaswamy enlightened the gathering.
(Report and pic: The Hitavada)
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