Sport
-
Cricket
Indian women hold all the aces
By Vijay Lokapally
LUCKNOW, JAN. 13. It may not appeal much in terms of competition but women's cricket has a place. Cricketers like Shanta Rangaswamy, Diana Eduljee, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Sudha Shah, Purnima Rau, Sandhya Agarwal strove for years to push the case of women's cricket and it was their effort essentially that enables the current lot enjoy all the fruits.
Today, there is sponsorship for women's cricket and the media attention too has improved over the years. But the lot of women cricketers overall remains the same.
There is very little spectator support to their contests and their game too has been static in technical matters. Their struggle for recognition, however, continues and this time the drive is being led by a coach who has given the Indian men's team a number of cricketers.
Tarak Sinha is an unsung force in Indian cricket. His list of pupils includes names like Manoj Prabhakar, Raman Lamba, K. P. Bhaskar, Sanjeev Sharma, Ajay Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Atul Wassan, Randhir Singh.....A distinguished coach, he was persuaded by one of his very determined students, Anjum Chopra, to assist the women's team.
Tarak Sinha was reluctant initially but agreed to take up the job when the request came officially from the Women's Cricket Association of India.
The Indian girls did very well to win the five-match one-day series 3-0 with two matches slated to be played after the one-off Test starting at the K. D. Singh `Babu' stadium here from Monday.
The Indians, going by their form, are expected to sweep their English opponents off their feet in the four-day match with Tarak Sinha speaking confidently on behalf of the home team even though `Test' cricket could be a different brand altogether.
``Our team is superior in all departments of the game and it has reflected well in the results,'' he said. On the status of the sport, he remarked ``don't compare women's cricket with men's cricket but it has its own place. Believe me, it can be very competitive,'' said Tarak Sinha even as the one-day matches at Chennai and Hyderabad proved that this English side was no match to the home team.
England has proved a poor opposition thus far. It lacks the combination to push the Indians. ``We have worked on our strengths very well,'' said Tarak Sinha. ``We have not allowed the English to cut and pull, two shots which are their strong points,'' he stressed.
The tactics would remain unchanged over the next four days here, he asserted. The pitch, according to the Indian camp, looks ideal for it and that was one reason why the coach preferred Neetu David, Deepa Kulkarni and Bindeshwari Goel, all spinners, and just one seamer, Jhulan Goswami.
The teams (from): India: Anjum Chopra (captain), Anju Jain, Jaya Sharma, Mitali Raj, Mamta Maben, Arundhati Kirkire, Amrita Shinde, Hemalata Kala, Neetu David, Deepa Kulkarni, Jhulan Goswami, Sunita Singh, Bindeshwari Goel, Nousheen-al-Khadeer and Gulshan Sharma.
England: Clare Connor (captain), Caroline Atkins, Arron Thompson, Laura Newton, Jane Cassar, Mandie Godliman, Kate Lowe, Dawn Holden, Sarah Clarke, Clare Taylor, Lucy Pearson, Claire Taylor, Helen Wardlaw, Jackie Hawker and Laura Spragg.
Umpires: Messrs S. K. Bansal and Rajan Seth; Match Observer: Mr. Vinod Sharma.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Sport
|
