By GS Vivek
A day after Virat Kohli lashed out at the BCCI; it was the turn of women cricketers to question the board’s scheduling of matches. The women’s India ‘A’ tour against Bangladesh clashes with the start of the women’s domestic one-day competition, forcing several states to lose their key players for first-half of the tournament.
This comes after there was no cricket for women’s team for almost four months after the World Cup final and the BCCI promising steps to improve and upgrade women’s cricket. The board does seem to have kept their promise but it has come at a wrong time and the state association as well as the girls are understandably furious with this schedule propped up by the BCCI at the last minute.
“This is really frustrating. All these months all of us were just sitting with nothing to do and trying hard to get some matches. And now we have this situation where we will be travelling for India ‘A’ tour but at the same time will be missing out on our state matches. If only this tour would have come a little earlier, it would have been nice,” says a member of the India ‘A’ women’s team.
The worst hit are the team in Elite Group A where Railways are one of the teams, and with all the senior members of the India team, it makes it really hard for other states. As many as 10 members of Indian women’s team belong to Railways who are all available while other states will be missing their key players.
“This is a ridiculous step from the BCCI . There has to be some sense of planning before taking a decision. Bangladesh is no competition for Indian women, and what will they learn by touring there. This is just for the sake of putting a tour and saying we are serious about women’s cricket. How will women cricket improve if the girls are all out when the domestic season is beginning,” asks a state coach but wary of identifying herself.