Like most avid cricket fans in India, Esha Sapra doesn’t miss too many international games. Life can be hectic for this designer working at a Gurgaon-based architectural consultancy firm, but she makes time for cricket – be it following the Men in Blue religiously via online commentary/score, or rushing home to watch them on television, to the extent of even planning her social life around significant games.

Unlike most cricket fans in this country, Sapra didn’t switch off her mind – and TV set – after the men’s ODI series got over in the Caribbean recently. Truth be told, she didn’t pay much attention to that tour, as her focus was more on another important tourney – the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup.

From their first game against England, to the final at Lord’s against the same opponents, Sapra ensured full support for the Indian women’s team. “After all, how many people would have cared to watch them play before the last couple of weeks in this tournament?” she said.

Of course, it isn’t easy being a fan of the Indian women’s team. Star Sports did their best to provide a haphazard broadcast of this World Cup, despite being ICC’s official broadcaster. The entire tournament was not available on television, even if these matches were available on their online streaming service, Hotstar – which is not always easy to get on given the sad state of internet services in India.

Let it be said here that Star TV does not produce ICC tournament matches anymore; instead they just broadcast the world feed, and as such, they have no say over which matches were produced for television. The India-South Africa game, for example, was only available on Hotstar. But it is more about will power than anything else.

A case in point is India’s semi-final against Australia on July 20. While the world feed of this game was on Star Sports 1, in English, the broadcaster went an extra mile to broadcast it on Star Sports 2 – its designated Hindi channel – also. They had full pre- and post-match shows, along with in-studio commentary. It was so for the final match against England on Sunday as well.

The question to ask here is why did Star not bother to produce all India matches for television similarly? Couldn’t they have tied the online-feed with an in-studio commentary (even in Hindi) and prepared it for country-wide broadcast? It would have meant spending money, but surely the richest sports broadcaster in India – currently preparing a multi-million dollar bid for the next cycle of Indian Premier League (IPL) rights – cannot complain about a shortage of resources.

This indifferent attitude towards women’s cricket in India isn’t restricted to the broadcast situation alone. Instead, it is deep rooted in the lack of proper planning and execution of even domestic women’s cricket. In April 2016, during one of his many interviews, former BCCI president Anurag Thakur had announced plans for a women’s IPL.

It is past mid-2017 now, and there is still no sign of that tournament. Sure, the BCCI has been busy, occupied in a battle for survival on the international stage as it fights to implement (or not, depending how you look at it) the Supreme Court’s diktat over Lodha panel’s reforms. Again though, ask if any other function of the board has come to a standstill? Is the men’s team fighting for survival? No. Did their 2017 IPL progress smoothly? Yes. Is the planning of their future international assignments and the next IPL moving forward with ease? Indeed.

There can be no doubt that women’s cricket lags in terms of money, but this isnot reason enough for step-motherly treatment. It isn’t 1983, when the men’s team was in the same boat and went on to win their maiden World Cup, surprising one and all enroute to the final at Lord’s. The ‘Women in Blue’ have had a similar journey in 2017, but that is where comparisons end.

The BCCI is cash rich, period. Money isn’t the problem; herein, it is about intent, again. In the past 12 months, how much initiative has the board taken in setting up a definitive T20 league for women? How much attention – outside the purview of this Women’s World Cup – was paid to their cricket, the domestic structure and its vagaries?

Allowing Indian women cricketers to go overseas and play in other T20 leagues is perhaps the only welcome step in this interim. Harmanpreet Kaur (Sydney Sixers) and Smriti Mandhana (Brisbane Heat) created history by playing in the 2016 Women’s Big Bash League in Australia. It has helped them grow their game, and perform like they did on the biggest stage recently, not to mention deservedly added a few more bucks to their bank accounts.

Much more needs to be done, starting from the grassroots level, and this is where the BCCI needs to flex its financial muscle. It has to start with rewarding salaries for women cricketers (a senior cricketer earns Rs 30,000 approximately for a nine-game first class season while a Ranji cricketer (male) pockets Rs 12 lakh a year without an IPL contract). 

Money comes first, of course, and then there is the added incentive of improving the domestic structure. The BCCI can look at a corporate-structure tournament if not an all-out T20 league. When, and if they do, they can sell the rights for cheap – the objective herein cannot be to make money, but to garner as many eyeballs as possible. In turn, that compels broadcasters to showcase women’s cricket.

“Sponsorships, publicity and glamour that the men’s team attracts has given them exposure, and a lot of confidence and motivation to outperform themselves. The women’s team has proven they are equally deserving of this attention. Hopefully things will get better after this World Cup performance. From struggling to find online streaming of matches to all women’s matches being broadcast, that’s where I want to see it going,” said Sapra.

If only one gender is doing well in arguably India’s most successful sport, there is something erroneous surely. It is why this Women’s World Cup – where England beat India by 9 runs in the final at Lord’s – is unique, never mind the heart-breaking loss. It is an opportunity to right the wrong. It shouldn’t be reduced to a quadrennial event like the Olympics.

As such, it is a collective responsibility of the BCCI, broadcasters and viewers to help improve the scenario. Sapra knows she will be watching, now and forever, doing her bit in whatever little way she can. Will you? Will they?

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