Women’s World Cup: Ahead of India-England clash, MPCA launches souvenir book on women’s cricket

Indore, Oct 18 In a tribute to the growing importance and fan following for women’s cricket, the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) has launched a commemorative souvenir book titled ‘Million Aspirations, One Dream’ at the Holkar Stadium on Saturday.

The book was unveiled by India’s off-spin bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma, ahead of India’s clash against England on Sunday. Alongside her, MPCA President Mahanaaryaman Scindia, Vice President Vineet Sethia, and Secretary Sudhir Asnani were also present.

“The MPCA always tries to do something different. So, when we did our first Test match in 2016, we also took out a souvenir. It was dedicated to our Test matches. Similarly, for the first time, women's cricket is coming to Indore and Holkar Stadium. So, we wanted to celebrate it.”

“This time, we wanted to celebrate women's cricket and particularly women's cricket in MP. About 15 days before the start of the competition, we thought that something should be taken out, because there is very little information available for women's cricket, and it took a lot of effort,” Rajiv Risodkar, a member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) managing committee, told IANS in an exclusive conversation.

The book, a copy of which is with IANS, has chapters on women’s cricket in the country, the runners-up finish in the 2017 World Cup being a turning point for the game, equal match fees, and Women’s Premier League (WPL) giving cricketers financial security, and how the game was in the 1970s.

It also has content on women’s cricket in Central India, Indore being the cradle of women’s cricket, and more interesting tales around the game emerging from the city, as well as relevant statistics.

“But we are very fortunate that Mithali Raj, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Rajeshwari Dholakia, Sandhya Agarwal, former cricketers, and administrators like Ratnakar Shetty and Sharad Pawar sent messages and articles. Pauline Bunce, who was the assistant manager of the Australian team on the 1975 tour in India, has also contributed.”

“A historian of cricket, Ankit Verma, has also given us a lot of material. We have kept very old pictures in this souvenir. So, we have tried to give good material to people via this. We want to celebrate women's cricket. We hope that women's cricket will get a boost through this World Cup,” added Risodkar.

Before being on the MPCA managing committee, Risodkar had a storied career as an umpire in the BCCI panel from 1997 to 2016. He was also a reserve umpire for the India-England Test in Chennai in 2008, where Sachin Tendulkar hit a memorable ton.

His final umpiring assignment was the India-West Indies women’s series in Vijayawada in 2016, and he reflected on the dramatic transformation of women’s cricket, especially in the past five years.

“The way women's cricket has evolved in the last five years, we could not have even imagined that it would grow in this way. There was a time when I saw that the ball did not go outside the square when they would play. When players batted, there were 6-7 fielders in the square between the 40th and 50th overs. It was difficult to get the ball out of the square.”

“But now, women have started power-hitting/ It has become such a fast game. You get to see such big sixes. So, this is a big change. The quality of cricket and fielding has improved a lot. BCCI took over women's cricket in 2006. Since then, women's cricket has taken rapid strides, particularly in the last 5 years, we could not even imagine."

"Women's cricket is now very good. We can see that three girls from our MP state are playing in the Indian team at all levels. We are getting a boost, and everyone wants to put their kids in cricket. The barrier of girls playing cricket has also been removed, and it is a very good thing,” he concluded.

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