Reuters
India's Renuka Singh Thakur celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia's Grace Harris. [Source: Reuters]
The achievements of India’s women’s cricket team in recent years have revolutionised perceptions towards women’s sport, driving increased engagement, commercial success and financial stability, according to batsman Virat Kohli.
The India women’s team, who won silver at the Commonwealth Games and gold at the Asian Games in 2022, are third in the International Cricket Council’s Twenty20 and one-day rankings, trailing only Australia and England.
While the men’s Indian Premier League started in 2008, it took 15 years for women to have their own T20 league in India.
Kohli, the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy winner, said the league has taken the game “two to three levels higher than it used to be.
Cricket has been the driving force behind change in the sporting ecosystem in India but women’s participation in other sports in the country still needs more support and platforms for exposure.
Former Australia soccer player and FIFA Council member Moya Dodd, echoed Kohli’s sentiments, saying the success of women’s cricket in India would pave the way for the development of other sports in the country.
Dodd compared the potential impact of the India women’s cricket team to that of the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s football team, which she said created a “social movement around gender equality, women’s empowerment, and inclusion.
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