How Covid, BCCI bit off a year for women

ON March 8, Women’s Day, exactly one year since the Indian women’s team fought and lost to Australia in the T20 World Cup final, watching the incredibly brave women of Pakistan taking to the streets to demand their rights at the ‘Aurat March’, one was reminded of an essay with a thought-provoking title — ‘Are women human?’ It was written by Catharine Alice MacKinnon, the American writer, scholar and activist.

MacKinnon concluded that women are not human, for their rights of life, safety, education, medical care, choices, etc, are denied by society — patriarchy, basically. MacKinnon cast her eye on the state of the women’s world — she speaks of dowry deaths, for instance, and also trafficking of women; but her lived experiences were western. Think, then, what the perspective on women’s humanness would be in the context of India, where a very large number of women is still, well into the 21st century, without the freedom of choice in the matter of education, career, clothing, marriage, or going out to play — well, not even walking down a street unmolested. Patriarchy and tradition combine to deny women rights guaranteed by the Constitution — the Pakistani women on ‘Aurat March’, for instance, were lectured and quoted the scripture by reporters, mostly men, who seemed to spot a personal challenge against them in women demanding their rights.

It’s not much different in India, though emancipated parents in all regions of the country have been encouraging their daughters to go out and educate themselves and play, too.

Back to India’s women cricketers — reaching the final of the World Cup, having also reached the final of the 50-over World Cup in 2017, was a great achievement. Yet, after that, for one full year, they sat home, twiddling their thumbs. Covid turned 2020 into a year of nothingness, but the Indian cricket board (BCCI), at the earliest opportunity, did organise the IPL for the men — 60 matches in 53 days. The men then went to Australia for a thrilling tour of 12 matches, including two preparatory games. Now we’re in the midst of the series against England, and four Tests and one T20I have been played. Including the IPL and the matches against Australia and England, India’s men have potentially had 106 days of cricket, though some Tests ended early, and all players didn’t play all matches.

And the women? They had four Women’s Challenge T20 matches during the IPL. No international cricket. Their first international match after the World Cup final was held one full year later, on March 7, the first One-day International against South Africa in Lucknow. They went into the series against South Africa after only three training sessions, no camp — is this international sport or a joke?

The 50-over World Cup is scheduled for March-April next year. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, no urgency was shown to get the women, especially the younger players, as much experience as possible for the World Cup. Even as international cricket resumed in July, getting women back on the field was not really a priority.

The reason? Money. Women’s cricket is not commercially attractive — the TV ratings are lower, the attendance at the grounds is smaller, sponsorship revenues are minuscule as compared to men’s cricket.

India’s women are on a roll in Test cricket, having won three matches in a row — in 15 years! That’s right, after BCCI took control of women’s cricket in the country, with great reluctance, in late 2006, it has organised only two Tests for the women, both in 2014. The great Mithali Raj, who has become only the second woman to reach the milestone of 10,000 international runs, has played only 10 Test matches in 19 years. She’s played 212 ODIs — 81 of them in seven years in the pre-BCCI era, 131 in a little over 14 years since the BCCI took over. She’s also played 89 T20Is, all except one after BCCI took over.

From Mithali’s career figures, it seems that while the women have gained from BCCI’s infrastructure, sponsorship, coaching and finances (22 players were given central contracts in January 2020, and women now get match fees and allowances), the number of matches they play has not increased significantly.

The gap year of Covid showcased one glaring fault in sport across the world — in the UN’s analysis of the impact of the pandemic on sport, it was noted that due to “slashed revenues”, women’s sport was not a priority, mainly because of its lower “profitability”.

That’s the attitude of the BCCI as well, and the gains made by the women in the last five years could be lost. That would be a tragedy — for women cricketers are human, too.