Mithali Raj : Women's cricket has been changed by Social media & live TV coverage

Mithali Raj : Women's cricket has been changed by Social media & live TV coverage

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India women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj believes that the coverage of ICC World Cup and the publicity on social media has been instrumental in changing the fate of women cricket. Moreover, Mithali recalled the struggles of old days and said that there are no records of the previous games.

Mithali Raj stated that immense publicity on social media and the live coverage of the ICC World Cup has resulted in changing the status of the sport in India. In the ICC Women's World Cup held in the UK, Indian women cricket team lost to England in the final at Lord's. 

"In 2005, there was not much coverage and no live telecast of our matches. We don't have any videos of those games. We only have with us the experience of our journey in 2005," said Mithali after being felicitated by the Ficci Ladies Organisation (FLO) in an interactive session titled 'Breaking the Boundaries'.

"This year, the wide publicity on social media and live television coverage of ICC World Cup has changed dynamics of women's cricket in India. The visibility in this World Cup was immense. We got more followers. We couldn't get this momentum earlier."

Mithali also recalled her struggling days in cricket.

"Way back in 90s, it was very difficult for us to go through the journey where in U-16 and U-19 we had to travel in unreserved trains and used to stay in hostels. And it continued when the women's cricket was under WCI (Women's Cricket Association of India)," she added.

"Unlike the US where everything is in place to groom sportspersons for the Olympics, in India we need to make it big before getting some recognition and support from the government."

Adding to what Mithali was saying, Jhulan Goswami said taking up a career in sports for women is more challenging than it is for their male counterparts.

"The career of a sportsperson is usually short. For women there is also the challenge of marriage and family. It is more of a gamble, one can fail or succeed."

Former India captain Rahul Dravid was also present in the event and he said that popularizing women's cricket is a necessity.

"The more you play the better you get. Hence, more competitions will bring the best out of the talents. There is a need to bring more school kids on to the platform to develop the sport. For example, there should be more school and college cricket competitions," Dravid said.

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