Mithali Raj Believes It Will Be Hard To Build On The Recent Rise In Popularity Of Women's Cricket Due To Covid-19

Mithali Raj, Indian Women ODI captain and the leading run-scorer in 50-over cricket, feels that it will be difficult to build on the recent success in popularizing women’s cricket due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Women’s cricket received a huge fillip during the T20 World Cup held in Australia earlier this year where a total of 86,174 fans thronged to the stadium to witness the final between hosts Australia and India at the MCG.

With Covid-19 forcing the game to be played behind closed doors, Mithali Raj feels that women cricket might well back to playing in empty stadiums. She, however, hoped that regular broadcast of the matches will help garner interest among fans towards women’s cricket.

“Honestly, we cannot build on it now. There were no sports activities after the World Cup as things were shut down due to Covid-19. Now, if the sport has to happen there are a lot of things that need to be done to follow precautions, regulations etc. For example for the Test series in England, the players had gone there much ahead of the schedule (two weeks or so) for quarantine etc,” Mithali Raj told TOI.

“Also spectators may not be allowed for games, so then we are pretty much back to those days of playing in empty stadiums. But the positive is that if we can get to televise all matches, there will be some following. In fact, all of us need some respite and getting to see live matches will be helpful. Sport is something that people will look forward to watching on television even during the pandemic,” she added.

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Women’s IPL could be a platform for fringe players to showcase their talent- Mithali Raj

Mithali Raj also called for the introduction of Women IPL as she feels that such a platform will help the fringe women cricketers to showcase talent in front of the entire world, much like what Shafali Verma did in last years’ Challenger Trophy.

“I look at women’s IPL as another platform for players who have failed to catch the eye or live up to the expectations of the selectors. If they get picked by the franchisee, the players can have another go at things. Shefali Varma is the best example. She didn’t really have a big domestic season as such but the way she played in the Challengers’ Trophy caught the eye of everybody,” Mithali Raj said,

“If the Challengers didn’t happen then maybe Shefali wouldn’t have been known. So someone who is struggling with form will get a chance to come back stronger. But considering the present situation, we may need a few more years for women’s IPL,” she added.

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