Smriti Mandhana bats for more women in sporting disciplines beyond cricket: 'It would be inspiring to witness...'

Women’s sport in India is at an all-time high at the moment. Only a couple of years ago, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) was launched, and much more recently, the inaugural edition of the Women’s Hockey India League (HIL) took place with four teams taking part. Going back to last year, women athletes played a central figure in India’s Olympic and Paralympic campaigns. Manu Bhaker won a double bronze in shooting in the Paris Olympics, and 10 of India’s 29 medallists at the Paris Paralympics were women.

When it comes to cricket, Smriti Mandhana has been one of the key figures in Indian sport. She led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their inaugural WPL title last year and will be looking to defend the title this year, with the season starting from 14 February. Mandhana, for one, believes that it’s not just cricket where women can excel in sports.

More from First Cricket News

India vs England: Shubman Gill says there's no 'toxic competition' between him, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma Who is Samay Raina against whom case has been filed with Ranveer Allahbadia?

“To see India as a Sports-Forward Nation would mean a lot to all of us sportspersons, and it is all about the journey to becoming a sporting powerhouse. Domestic cricket, the Indian Premier League (IPL) and now the Women’s Premier League (WPL) are very good examples of how cricket as a sport has benefitted from an overall robust system.

“Domestic women players are now earning to perform independently and are also getting the right exposure with tournaments such as the WPL,” Mandhana said on a panel discussion during the launch of Sports-Forward Nation report in Bengaluru.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

'Won't require surgery...': Real reason behind Jasprit Bumrah's absence from 5th Test revealed in new report

PCB bans players from WCL over India-Pakistan match controversy

“Similarly, it would be inspiring to witness stories like these coming from across other disciplines as well. I am happy to be part of this movement with RCB to work towards making sports a priority across India. I want to see more girls playing sports by choice and finding success. If we can share our success and use sports as a driver for positive change, it would account for something that truly makes an impact,” added the 28-year-old.

Mandhana also called for women cricketers to be treated as equally as men. “From the time we started playing in terms even for the Indian team to having stadiums which were mostly empty to now filling out stadiums wherever we play as an Indian team or with RCB.

“I think it’s just a good, brilliant thing to watch, and I think more importantly as cricketers or as sports people, sometimes people mis-conceptualize thinking that we as women want equal stuff, but all we need is equal respect. People know us, people appreciate us, and criticize us, which is great. I think people are caring about women’s sport, they are watching it. So I think it’s a journey and I just feel it,” she said.

‘More involvement and investment in grassroots level’: Rajesh Menon

The Sports-Forward Nation report is a report curated by RCB and Sports and Society Accelerator. The report highlights four pillars— commerce, technology, performance, and societal impact to develop a formidable sporting ecosystem in India. The report also focuses on a Priority Roadmap wherein it stresses on the need of making sport part of every Indian’s life by 2047.

RCB Chief Operating Officer Rajesh Menon, who was also part of the panel discussion, stressed the need for more investment in grassroots level sports. “We need more involvement and investment at the grassroots level. But to be a champion nation in sport, we need to provide our athletes with the right environment for development. It requires right decisions by the stakeholders at the right time,” he said.