This is an Indian Cricket Team that needs an introduction!

The India women’s team will take to the field on Sunday against Pakistan without the usual buzz that surrounds this contest

 

A cloud of silence permeates the nation. The streak of banter remains lost in the hullabaloo of tax reforms and economic spells. Accompanied by an over-the-top vanity and its share of loud attacks, each clash remains reserved with weeks of unplanned excitement and planned exhilaration.

The day begins with a queer whiff of the impending celebration, with an India-Pakistan clash in a Cricket World Cup having accorded its own cult status.

As superstitions unwrap themselves from every fanatic who adorns the jersey and the pearls of wisdom flow freely from every individual who otherwise refrains from the sight of a cricket match on television, the match remains a precedent of the carnival that is cricket. 

Then what remains different today? What single reason could the country obsessed with cricket suddenly have to remain hushed about an upcoming encounter against the arch-rivals in a World Cup game?

What crime has this favourite sport committed that politics and policies have gained superiority over the obsession that greets every match an Indian Cricket Team plays? No advertisements screaming out for revenge; no viral videos that hilariously burst expectations. A silent Sunday, spent as it always is.

An Indian Cricket Team that needs an introduction!

India are blazing away at the World Cup at the expense of all and sundry

Sans the title of a high-octane clash and without the intrusively peering eyes of an over-indulgent media, a group of eleven players shall stand in unison singing the national anthem as they seek to bring to the fore their utmost level of skill and talent. The anthem might not be complemented by shrill cries of ‘Jaya Hai’ that is literally screamed out in every other crammed stadium but there shall be no missing the quiet prayer that every cricketer secretly mutters while walking onto the field.

Led by the prolific Mithali Raj, the team of young women shall look to upstage their neighbours to keep their winning campaign alive in the eleventh edition of the Women’s World Cup.

As the Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli saga panned out in a definite case of dirty linen, hogging the entire media spotlight that was available, Raj led a fiery set of players towards England with a curt reply that muted a media conference, even if it was for just a moment.

"Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer? Do you ask them who their favourite female cricketer is?"

Answering a rather distasteful question on her personal favourite male cricketer from India and Pakistan, Raj exemplified a no-nonsense stance that would garner an unending applause from feminists the world over. Fighting off the patriarchy in a sport that has been side-lined exclusively for them, the Indian Women’s Cricket Team have a sterner test than what just awaits them on the field.

What makes matters worse is that she has been accused of being covetous of the attention that the Men’s Team has been receiving, with ‘cricket experts’ dissing aside her complexion; searching for lewd photos of the women players, based on which they would contemplate devoting their hours watching and talking this marginalised realm of cricket.

Poonam Raut and Deepti Sharma became the first ever pair in history to notch up a 300-run opening partnership against Ireland this year.

Smriti Mandhana remains more than a pretty face, which remained the talking point after her heroics against England and West Indies in the first two games, where she scored 90 and an unbeaten 106, respectively. Little is one aware that she, along with Harmanpreet Kaur, was signed up by the Big Bash League but was unfortunately ruled out after an injury. She also became the first women cricketer from the nation to score a double century in the 50-over format in 2013, scoring 224 off 150 deliveries in the West Zone Under-19 Tournament.

While Stuart Binny’s haul of 6/4 remains a talking point to date, Ekta Bisht’s figures of 5/8 against Pakistan in a World Cup Qualifier this year was hardly noticed. Jhulan Goswami does a familiar name, courtesy her decade-long presence, but a question on the number of wickets that she has garnered will still be enough to drive even a cricket fan into a tizzy.

Doing the unimaginable: not telecasting a World Cup game

While the women conquer the world, India misses out

The Men’s Cricket team need not be mercilessly attacked for stealing away the spotlight away from the Girls in Blue. The hours of hard work poured in by every sportsperson remains at its pinnacle. It is the complex interplay of the forces of the media that chooses to highlight a particular sport. The services towards the nation and the appreciation that follows in the world of sports remain bordered and defined by the string of patriarchy that surrounds one and all.

Hence, Sania Mirza’s hemline is noticed and attacked. Ashwini Ponappa’s charming looks remain her primary identity and Dipika Pallikal’s marriage to Dinesh Karthik and the controversy that engulfed it stole her Gold Medal heroics in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

For the few that wanted to tune in to watch a spirited Mandhana smack the West Indian bowling attack, the highlights package of Virat Kohli’s men taking on England in January remained the only visual they caught on the official broadcasting network. As a match in Women’s World Cup was being staged with India en route an emphatic victory, the sight of England hoisting the ODI trophy from earlier this year played out.

Yes, the Board of Cricket for Control in India has hiked the fares that each player gets in return for her services. A Women’s Indian Premier League is on the cards as well but till the sigh of the subaltern remains just a scent, the odour of favouritism shall prevail.

When Mithali carefully packed When the Road Beckons as she prepared for her sojourn in England, she was well aware that the journey ahead lay beyond just the immediate World Cup. It was a journey of carving niches and shattering clichés; of abstaining from the familiar and venturing into the deepest horizons with a bunch of girls who have pledged to do just the same.