Diana Edulji: ‘We stayed in dormitories to accommodate 15-20 players in one room’

“There is so much excitement and noise for the WPL, which makes all of us happy to be honest,” Edulji says. “I was just reminded of the first nationals in 1974-75, where we had only two-and-a-half teams for a supposed three team event. The reserve players of Mumbai and Maharashtra had to play for Uttar Pradesh. And it was that tournament that acted as a catalyst. We didn’t have much following or anything, but word spread around and for the next nationals in Benares we had about 25 teams participating,” Edulji recalls.

The calm before the storm 🌪️

The 5️⃣ captains meet in Mumbai ahead of the #TATAWPL opener before they put their game face 🔛😎 pic.twitter.com/R2487mlbUw

— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 3, 2023

It was one of the earlier trips – to Banares –that Edulji still remembers the most. With train journeys that used to last a good three days, Edulji recalls how players would travel in unreserved compartments filled mostly with men. “Travelling was not all easy. We didn’t have money to fund us, so unreserved coaches used to be our home. We used to sit wherever we got a place and at times some of us have even slept near toilets. And in case we had to switch trains, then we used the waiting room to get some sleep. For matches, most of our stays used to be at dormitories because you can easily accommodate 15-20 of us in one room,” Edulji says.

If travelling within India was challenging, travelling overseas was a different story altogether. In the initial years after the women’s cricket association was formed, nationals had become a yearly affair and after India defeated West Indies in 1976, they went on a tour to Australia and New Zealand. “It was our first overseas trip and each of us had to pay Rs 10,000 to play for India. Many talented players from humble backgrounds and middle-class families missed out because they could not pay. The four of us from Maharashtra were lucky because we approached our then CM AM Antulay and the government paid for our trip,” Edulji says.

Former India women’s captain Diana Edulji at her residence in Mumbai.
(Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

At the WPL, players have attributed how the lack of preparation time has not allowed them to gel as a team ahead of the tournament – a key component these days – but such luxuries were unheard of during those days. “Today the entire team stays together. Even if a game is happening in your home town, players prefer staying in hotels. We couldn’t even think about those things because we couldn’t afford a stay in hotels. When travelling out of India, we used to stay with Indian families. Two of us used to stay at one house. It was very strange, but it was exciting to see different cultures. Moreover, since most of it was Indian families, we were able to get Indian vegetarian food and that helped save a few pennies.

“But we didn’t have anything called team bonding and stuff because we used to stay far off. We only used to meet in the morning of the match and leave once it got over. Even during the 1993 World Cup in England, all we could manage was a University stay,” Edulji says.

The disparity between the men’s game and women’s game used to extend into stadiums as well. And nothing illustrates it more than this incident where Edulji during her first visit to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru found there were no toilets for women. Since women’s cricket came under BCCI’s umbrella, the NCA has hosted several camps for women. “I don’t know whether they had a makeshift toilet for women or not. But it was not an ideal scenario. It was a sad reflection because even in several state associations that was the case because they didn’t have any women staff. Things have started to change for good only since 2017,” Edulji says.

And as WPL is all set to roll, there is genuine excitement in Edulji’s voice. “We laid the platform for the game in India and to see it grow to this level is definitely one to savour. You know the Nationals in Benares in 1975 was played in a 25-over format much before the shortened version of the game came into play. Just like the men’s World Cup, we were the pioneers for the shortest format too,” she says.