It’s not often that India’s women’s cricket team finds a mention but this past week will go down as one to remember. Not only did the team win a quadrangular ODI tournament in South Africa beating the hosts, but it also managed a hitherto unaccomplished feat.
India’s openers shared a 300-run opening stand against Ireland becoming the first pair in history to achieve the milestone.
Deepti Sharma and Punam Raut were the openers who put on 320 runs for the opening wicket.
Then in the final, Mithali Raj who struck her sixth consecutive fifty and Jhulan Goswami, who incidentally became the highest wicket taker in ODIs, combined well to give India a memorable win.
The team’s performance came in for praise from the BCCI. Acting Hony. Secretary, Amitabh Choudhary, said: “The Indian Women's team are on a record-breaking spree in the Women's Quadrangular Series and I congratulate them for their all-round show. It started with Jhulan Goswami becoming the leading wicket taker in Women's ODIs and today we have witnessed a plethora of records.”
History of women’s cricket in India
The year 1973 saw the birth of legends Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, besides the launch of Project Tiger by the Indira Gandhi government. However, 1973 also saw a major development in cricket - the formation of the Women’s Cricket Association of India.
This ushered in the beginning of women’s cricket in India.
Based on the 1973 Societies Act, Lucknow and under the Presidency of Begum Hamida Habibullah, Mahendra Kumar Sharma passed the registration of the Women’s Cricket Association of India. The first few years saw slow progress, with a few inter-state nationals being held.
It was in 1976, when the women’s team came into the limelight after they outplayed West Indies at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to register their first-ever Test win.
Many players have played with great distinction over the years. Diana Edulji, widely regarded as one of the finest women cricketers, was awarded the Arjuna award in 1983 and the Padma Shri in 2002. Shubhangi Kulkarni, an all-rounder, played in 27 ODIs, and is now part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Committee.
In the year 2006, the Indian Women’s Cricket Association merged with the BCCI. The same year, India also defeated England on their home turf and won the series 1-0. Their spirited performance was widely praised across the international circuit.
The team earned consecutive wins in 2014 against England and South Africa and was placed fifth in the 2016 ICC T20 Women’s World Cup.
The current ICC world rankings put the Indian team at fourth position in the women’s championship table.