Opinion Former captain of women’s cricket team Shantha Rangaswamy writes: The Under-19 World Cup win could do for women’s cricket what 1983 did for men’s game

Many of the players could go on to play for the senior Indian team. We must ensure they do not lose the winning habit

The win in the T20 Women's Under-19 World Cup will give further impetus to the sport. (PTI)

Shantha Rangaswamy

January 31, 2023 10:58 AM IST First published on: Jan 30, 2023 at 03:43 PM IST

When Shafali Varma shed tears of joy, my eyes became moist as well. It was such an emotionally charged moment. When you are so involved with the game and your team wins the World Cup, it’s a fantastic feeling.

The fortunes of Indian cricket changed for the better after the 1983 men’s World Cup win. The BCCI is taking good care of women’s cricket. The win in the T20 Women’s Under-19 World Cup will give further impetus to the sport. Indian women have not won a World Cup before, although we have been in the finals more than once.

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I was quite positive about this team’s prospects before the final. It had done well en route to the final and got the better of most teams, including Australia in the practice game. The Indian youngsters were far above the rest of the competition. Their strong performance underlines the core strength of Indian women’s cricket. We have talented youngsters in the wings to replace the seniors. That’s one of the best indicators of the improvement in the standards of women’s cricket in India.

The win in the finals was without contributions from Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh. Richa looked out of form and Shafali was bent on throwing away her wicket. Shweta Sehrawat, Trisha Reddy, Soumya Tiwari and the bowlers, Parshavi Chopra, Archana Devi and Titas Sadhu were the players who guided India to victory.

Coach Nooshin Al Khadeer spoke of “horses for courses”. The track in South Africa was helping the spinners. So India went into the match with only one pacer. But we should not be complacent. The fact remains, we need to prepare good pacers.

The win is a well-deserved reward for the hard work put in by the cricketers. The National Cricket Academy (NCA) played a big part. Coach Nooshin Al Khadeer deserves a lot of the credit as well. As a cricketer, she was amongst the most dedicated. And her coaching stint has shown that she is one of the best in the trade. I hope she gets to coach the senior team soon because she has the ability and the fire in her belly. I think you don’t need many other attributes.

The other two names I would like to take are of Rajib Datta and Apurva S Desaii. They are part of the NCA faculty and went with the team to South Africa. They did a lot of hand-holding. We should also acknowledge the contribution of the selectors who picked this side. When a team does poorly, the selectors receive brickbats, but their contribution is rarely appreciated when the team does well.

A number of cricket academies for women are taking shape around the country. This win will give a fillip to such efforts.

What is next for this group? Winning is a habit. Quite a few of this U-19 squad may go on to play for the senior Indian squad. Their experience in the Under-19 World Cup will stand them in good stead. We must drill into their heads to not lose the winning habit.

The writer, India’s first women’s cricket captain and also a former member of BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee, spoke to Rahul Pandey.