Mithali Raj Fears Women's Cricket Going Back By Two Years Due to COVID-19 Outbreak

Veteran Indian women’s cricketer Mithali Raj has opined on the consequences of the break imposed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on women’s cricket. While the sport resumed at the international level on the 8th of July in England, it might be more time before normalcy like before gets restored. As far as women’s cricket goes, Mithali Raj worries about having had it retreated by a couple of years.

Also Read: Nasser Hussain Unhappy With ICC’s “Bad Light” Laws

Over the last few years, women’s cricket made significant progress and came at par with men’s cricket in terms of popularity. Concerning viewership, the 2020 ICC World T20’s women competition was a major landmark as 1.1 billion people viewed the finals around the globe while 86000 arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia finished as the winners of the campaign, beating India comprehensively in the final.

Mithali Raj, who is the highest run-getter in women’s 50-over cricket, as she feels that the Coronavirus outbreak has dented the momentum. According to Raj, the forced hiatus has hindered the progress built between India’s success in the 2017 50-over World Cup and 2020 T20 World Cup.

“Unfortunately, women’s cricket may have been set back by a couple of years by this pandemic as some of the momentum that had been built between India’s success in World Cup 2017 and World T20 2020 has been lost,” the Jodhpur-born added.

“The plans have obviously been disrupted but we believe we can re-build quickly” : Mithali Raj

The prolific batter went on to say they have had conversations with the BCCI to draw up a firm calendar for the convenience of the fans. The 37-year old feels optimistic that we can get back to it quickly and that a women’s IPL tournament can take place in the next 2-3 years.

“However, we have had discussions with BCCI to draw up a firm calendar for the Indian women’s team so that fans can regularly cheer for the team. The plans have obviously been disrupted but we believe we can re-build quickly. I think a full-fledged Women’s IPL is still 2-3 years away but we would certainly look to have a fourth team in the Women’s Challenge that is played concurrently with the IPL,” Mithali Raj added.

Also Read: 7 Batsmen Who Scored A Double-Century And Century In The Same Test