India has made great strides at the global stage and Virat Kohli believes that the women’s cricket team has changed the perception of women playing sports in the country enhancing the overall engagement and commercial investment in it.
The women’s Indian cricket team who were awarded a silver medal at the Commonwealth games and a gold medal at the Asian games in 2022 currently hold the 3rd position in women’s ICC T20 and ODI ranking after Australia and England.
Kohli shared his viewpoints while addressing the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit last weekend in Bangalore, saying “The women’s cricket team has singlehandedly drove the focus on women sports.”
Kohli commented that “the time period of six, seven years women’s cricket inspired a whole nation with what they would term as their believe engaging people across board.”
Kohli highlighted that over time, better commercials and increased plastic were injected into women’s cricket, leading to launch of Women’s Premier League (WPL).
While the Indian Premier League for men was kicked off in 2008, it has taken women 15 years to launch a rival T20 league in India.
The victor of the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy, Kohli remarked how the league has improved the game saying, “it has taken the game two to three levels higher than it used to be.”
Kohli had previously remarked that women’s sports ought to be considered when discussing the advancement of sports in any given nation. “You don’t only need to focus on men for the development of sport in any country. There is a need for a collective sports culture, which involves everybody, and in this culture, women’s sport is tremendously important.”
She went on to say that there was a wealth of talent in women’s sports, “not just in cricket, but in other sports as well.” ”We have had great individual athletes over the years like those in tennis, badminton, wrestling, and boxing.”’
“…It is definitely going to the right direction, and it keeps getting more support and more infrastructure to be constructed for them and for their sport to flourish.”
Dodd emphasized that cricket has led the charge of change in the sporting environment in India, especially for women’s sports, who unfortunately still require more assistance and opportunities to gain visibility.
Moya Dodd, an ex Australian soccer player and a member on the FIFA council, also commended Kohli’s remarks, asserting that the prosperity of women’s cricket in India would greatly improve the conditions for other sports disciplines to thrive in India.
“On that note, I do believe there is space for more than one sport, and even though one sport may take the lead, for instance cricket, I think it does make room for women to play other sports,” she stated during the Summit on Friday.
It helps, I think, to see success from the WPL, as it is extraordinary, and does help change mindset and perception, this time around women participating in sports. This will assist other sports in the future.
Dodd drew parallels with how impactful the India women’s cricket team can be, saying it woud be similar to the Matildas, the Australian national women’s football team, which she said “triggered a social movement on gender equality, women’s empowerment and inclusion.”
“Women’s cricket in India will fuel that movement, and there will be other women’s sporting activities where society will allow to build their development from that.”