Two wonderful things happened in Indian cricket recently. First was that tremendous last-ball win over arch-rivals Pakistan which brought in Diwali a day earlier and the second was the announcement that there would be pay parity with the men’s team for the Indian women cricketers. This clearly shows that not only is the BCCI one of the richest, if not the richest cricket Board in the game, but that its heart is in the right place.  

Mithali, Jhulan paved the way

India’s women  have brought glory not just in cricket but virtually all aspects of life and for the BCCI to recognise that, is tremendous. This will incentivise our women cricketers to go even higher and win more laurels for the country. The likes of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami who may have just missed out, will no doubt be proud of the fact that it was their efforts that have paved the road for today’s cricketers to get the rewards. Yes, before this fab duo, there were also those women cricketers like Shanta Rangaswamy, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Diana Edulji, Sudha Shah to name a few, who simply played for the love of the game and in trying circumstances, where they often had to fend for themselves and even bear all the expenses just to play their beloved sport. They must be saluted too for they were perhaps the first who showed the light for the next generations to follow.