If anyone says girls can’t play cricket, show them Mithali Raj.
If they say girls shouldn’t play cricket, show them Jhulan Goswami.
If they argue that cricket isn’t a sport for girls, show them Harmanpreet Kaur.
If they tell you that girls are soft, show them Smriti Mandhana.
Indian Women’s cricket team has won many fans and admirers in recent years – specially ever since Harmanpreet Kaur, smashed an an unbeaten 171 of 115 balls against mighty Australian team, hitting twenty fours and seven sixes, in the Women’s World Cup in England a few years back.
Following the Indian Women’s Cricket Team’s stellar start in World Cup 2017, there has been a rise in the popularity of these women cricketer’s even in social media.
In 2020, the Indian women’s cricket team made history when they went to the final of the T20 World Cup. The MCG was packed with a record 86,174 people attending the match. Though India lost the match but they sealed their places in the hearts of cricket admirers for the rest of their lives.
Things are changing for the better and more girls are playing the sport than ever before and today, destroying many myths and attitudes towards women along the way.
‘Loki Takes Guard’ by Menaka Raman is a book that breaks these set ideas of what girls are “supposed” to do. This book is a story about how Loki and those who support her manage to break some stereotypes and have fun along the way.
In real life, many stars in the present Indian women’s team have actually lived the life of the main protagonist in the book – Loki in real life.
Let us also share some startling facts about women cricket that you may not be aware of – women invented ‘overarm bowling’ and also, the first cricket world cup was held by the women a few years before the men got going.
Anyone who doubts the future of Indian women’s cricket should be reminded of the facts that the all-time highest one-day run-getter and wicket-taker in the world among women are both Indians. These are Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami respectively, who are both inspirational legends of the game.
The road ahead looks promising and we all are set to see a lot of women smashing records on the cricket ground and patriarchy in the society in days to come!
