Beyond the Matches is happy to introduce you to the specially dedicated section for Women’s Cricket. The section will be covered by fans of Women’s Cricket who have joined the team as Guest Author and Stats Analyst. While we understand some of our readers would be confused on why mention a dedicated section, here is all you need to know about the team behind it and why we are announcing a new section for it.
In the past, since the journey of Beyond the Matches has started, we have covered as many games as possible of Indian Women’s team on our blog and the lessons that their game teaches us. However, we feel that since we have created a space for cricket blogs, we have the opportunity to talk and have more conversations on Women’s cricket and grow the game from a fan’s perspective!
We have covered the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge 2020 and a few games from South Africa tour of India but we believe that it’s not enough and having a special dedicated section to it will help us create a space for more conversations, lessons from the game and build a community of fans.
This section will be dedicated to analyzing, blogging and writing summaries about Women’s cricket teams/games.
A friendly reminder that we are just fans of the game who wish to share lessons from the game, write about the game and talk beyond the match.
Know more about the team covering Women’s cricket on Beyond the Matches
Poulami Das: Stats Analyst for Women’s cricket
Poulami started connecting to Women’s cricket after Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171 not out in the world cup semi-final 2017. She had been following since the first game of the Women’s World Cup 2017, but that particular innings took her breath away, blew her mind and made her a fan.
“I came for that, I stayed because I started loving the players and the teams and realized how amazing they are” – she says
Poulami on how she connected to Women’s cricket and how we can change the narrative together:
What I have realized from my limited time in the field is that if the sport was promoted correctly, and people knew it’s happening, a lot of people will tune in. Once they get to know the players and connect with them, they will be more interested to watch the matches. Regular conversation and content around the same are necessary for that.
Talking about it more, including it in the regular conversation, not treating it as a special event but a regular event and discussing it in our daily lives, just like we discuss the Kohlis and Rohits can help us change the narrative as fans. The more it is talked about, the more people know, and more people follow.
Women’s sport is not an exhibition or a charity event and should not be treated as such by the management or the fans. It’s professional and girls should see it as a career option and everyone, including us should make it easier for them.
Shubham Sharma – Guest Author
Shubham Sharma started following the Women’s Cricket team as they were making their mark and people have come to notice them more.
Shubham on how we can change the narrative together:
It is important to lay a similar stage for both genders in the game of cricket. Keeping it basic, inclusive and relevant is one way to change the narrative and promote the game.
Urvi Shah – Author
Following the Women in Blue started from the 2017 Women’s World Cup. It is around that time that I had a female cricketer to look up to, watch them play this beautiful game and see an inspirational figure there. Punam Raut, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were the names that I would look for throughout the tournament and then came Harmanpreet, Smriti, Shikha and others with their own energy and mystery. It was the start of a new journey, following the blues and this time onwards both Men and Women.
My thoughts on how I connected to Women’s cricket and how we can change the narrative together:
Cricket is pretty much seen as a male dominant sport specially in India. For the longest time I wasn’t aware of how the Women in Blue are performing or if there was a team playing at international level. People have a very different view on seeing Women in cricket. There is a constant comparison, forgetting the uniqueness they bring to the sport.
There is a lot to be done to change this narrative not just from administration or coverage areas but also as fans. We need to talk more about it, have healthy discussions and learn more about their journeys. The efforts so far have been good and we see the effect of it with the daily increasing number of fans of the team and how everyone wants to know more about the players, their game plan and want to see them perform to their potential. But it doesn’t seem enough. There is a lot more to do but we acknowledge the good done so far and keep adding to it.
Writing about the games they play, writing about the life lessons they give and their journey in this sport, will help create a space for conversations and understanding. I look forward to contributing in my own way to bring this change as a fan and one day, look back and say: We made it!
Here is to writing about them, talking about them and celebrating their journey, one match at a time.
~Beyond the Matches
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