Rise of Women's Cricket in India

India is a country where cricket is worshiped and considered a religion and the favorite players and teams are admired by the cricket enthusiasts from the bottom of their hearts.

Cricket has emerged in different forms since its inception, such as Test Matches, T20, and One Day Internationals (ODIs). With the popularity of Men’s cricket, India witnessed the play of women cricket matches as well. Do you wonder how all of this started? We’ll take you down memory lane and unveil the wonderful beginnings of women's cricket in India. Likewise, in men's cricket, the gamblers love to place their wagers on women cricket matches as well as it is a gateway to earning big by betting in the cricket league.

Cricket is a game that has its significance across the globe. Most of you may know that cricket is played mainly by men but in recent years, women have also pulled up their socks to make India proud with their stellar performances.

Beginning of Women Cricket in India

Women's cricket is not new to India but the strings have been attached since early 1970. During that time, only a few women had a zest to join the women's cricket team.

In the initial stages, India cricket women weren’t conducted officially. Later, the founder secretary, Mr Mahendra Kumar Sharma came forward to register the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) under the Societies Act in 1973 in Lucknow, under the presidentship of Begum Hamida Hamida Habibullah.

The efforts of Kumar were a boon for the emerging women cricketers. In the same year, WCAI also got the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC).

Between the year 1970 and 1973, there were a lot of women's match activities and the women's team were engaged in 9 out of 12 months.

In April 1973, the first women’s inter-state nationals were organized in Pune in which three teams participated - Bombay, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. By the end of that year, the committee organized the second edition of the women's cricket matches which was held in Varanasi and this edition included eight teams instead of three.

After the organization of the second cricket national at Varanasi, the related members reorganized the executive committee and Mrs Chandra Tripathi and Mrs Pramilabai Chavan took the charge of chairmanship and president respectively. With the support of Mr MK Sharma, these two women majorly contributed to the development of women’s cricket in the initial stages.

Until the third edition of the women's cricket championship was conducted in Calcutta, the number of participating teams jumped to 14. Consequently, the teams from all the states took part in women's cricket. In the later days, Air India and Railways welcomed women cricketers who later participated as separate teams.

In the history of cricket, other tournaments were introduced in cricket. Consequently, an inter-zonal limited-overs tournament by the name of the Rani Jhansi Trophy was organized in Kanpur in 1974. In the same year, the inter-university league was conducted in Rajkot. It followed sub-junior (U-15) and junior (U-19) tournaments.

The winners of each playing zone were indulged in Indira Priyadarshini Trophy and the nationals’ winner squared off against the rest of the Indian team for the Rau’s Cup.

After a successful stint of 5 years of women's cricket at the domestic level, the first ever bilateral women’s cricket series was conducted in India in 1975 when Australia toured India for U-25 to play a 3 match ODI series in Pune, Delhi, and Calcutta being the venues.

For the three test matches, the teams had three captains - Ujjawal Nikam, Sudha Shah, and Seerupa Bose. After the end of the Australia series, India cricket women played against New Zealand, England, and West Indies at the home ground.

Top Women Cricketers From India Cricket Team 

Undoubtedly, the Indian cricket team has given many gems to make the nation proud. Here is the list of top women cricketers that you can consider for betting on the upcoming matches:

1. Jemimah Rodrigues

Jemimah is an Indian cricketer with young talent. In the year 2018, she was entitled with the ‘Jagmohan Dalmiya’ award which was given to her by cricketer, MS Dhoni. 

Jemimah Rodrigues is an Indian cricketer. She is a very young, talented, hard-working cricketer. In June 2018, she was awarded the Jagmohan Dalmiya Award presented by cricketer MS Dhoni for Best Domestic Junior Women’s Cricketer by the BCCI at Jharkhand. 

Interestingly, along with being a great cricketer, she is also a good hockey player and has represented Maharashtra in both games. She is a young and charismatic player and became the 2nd Indian woman to slam a double-century in the ODI cricket in 2017 when she scored 202 for Mumbai against Saurashtra. Moreover, she was awarded with Best Women Cricketer Award (Jr Domestic) at the BCCI awards for 2017-18 edition. You can follow cricket betting tips to bet on women matches.

2. Deepti Sharma 

Deepti Bahgwan Sharma hails from Uttar Pradesh and is an Indian cricketer who is a part of national women cricket team. For the Indian, she plays as an all-rounder with left-hand pace and is a right-arm off-breaker. She scored 188 runs which was the 3rd highest in women ODI cricket. In 2014, she started her career as an international cricketer. 

3. Smriti Mandhana 

Smriti is one of the stylish cricketers who plays multiple shots at any part of the ground. Moreover, this Indian cricketer is an attacking opening batter in the national women cricket team. She has the capability to destroy any strong bowling lineup. For team India, she has played many wonderful winning knocks and this led her to earn Best Women’s International Cricketer in 2018 by the BCCI. 

4. Harmanpreet Kaur 

Harmanpreet Kaur is the captain of the Indian women cricket team after Mithali Raj. She is an all-rounder and was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for delivering an outstanding performance in 2017. 

She amassed an exceptional century in the gameplay in 2018 in women’s T20I. It made her the first woman to do this and Virendra Sehwag is her inspiration. 

Now, let’s have a look at the best moments in Women Cricket history. (H3)

1. 1982 Women’s World Cup - Shubhangi Kulkarni 

In the 19982 edition of the Women’s World Cup, Shubhangi Kulkarni played at the best bowling average, taking her wickets at 11.70. Having 20 wickets on the bag, Kulkarni was the 3rd woman in the list of highest wicket-takers. 

2. Entry of India Women Team in the Semis for the First Time in 1997

In the 1997 edition, India entered the semi-finals for the first time under the captaincy of Pramila Bhatt. Playing on the home ground, it was a historic moment for the women's cricket team. Marking the history, the women's squad entered the last four stages with England, New Zealand, and Australia alongside. 

3. Neetu David’s 20 Dismissal at 2005 World Cup

For the women’s cricket team, 2005 was one of the greatest moments for the team. In that edition, Neetu David became the highest wicket-taker, taking 20 wickets in the tournament. 

In the list of highest wicket-takers, Neetu David holds the second position. Moreover, she holds the title of being the first bowler to take 100 wickets in women’s ODI matches. With free cricket betting tips, you can earn huge bucks through women cricket matches. 

4. Mithali Raj Smacking 100 Runs in 2005 World Cup 

In the semi-final match of the 2005 World Cup, Mithali Raj stole the game and gave her one of the best performances despite suffering from a knee injury. She amassed 91 in 104 balls which were her crucial knock when she performed under pressure. It helped the team to get a spot in the finals in that tournament. They successfully clinched their victory over New Zealand and this was one of the greatest women's cricket matches.

5. Kaur’s Unforgettable 171 Against Australia in 2017

In 2017, in the semi-final match against Australia, Harmanpreet Kaur came up with her finest performance that included 20 fours and 7 sixes, reaching up a score of 171 runs in 115 balls in One Day International World Cup against Australia that gave a significant boost to the performance of team India to the finals for the second time. 

Following the gameplay of the cricketers in the women's matches, you can bet on the upcoming matches. 

Like the match of men’s cricket, the gamblers find lucrative opportunities in women cricket matches. For cricket betting tips, stay tuned with CBTF Betting Tips.