Women’s cricket in India is bigger than it’s ever been. Packed stadiums, multi-crore WPL contracts, live broadcasts during prime time, and young girls dreaming of wearing the blue jersey are all now part of the mainstream sports story.
Because of their historic run in the 2017 World Cup and other recent successes around the world, Indian women cricketers are now more famous and respected than ever.
Every boundary hit, every last-over thrill, and every podium finish takes a lot of hard work, but not many people or groups get a lot of attention for it. These are the people who helped women’s cricket grow in India long before it became popular: coaches, administrators, ground staff, families, mentors, and early pioneers.
This is what happened to them.
The Unseen Pioneers Who Played Without Anyone
Knowing Before they got TV deals and crowds of thousands, Indian women cricketers were almost completely unknown. Women like Diana Edulji, Shanta Rangaswamy, Sudha Shah, and Anjum Chopra’s contemporaries (in the women’s circuit) played in the 1970s and 1980s more for the love of the game than for fame.
Most of the time, there weren’t any five-star hotels, fitness teams, or even good kits. Many players paid for their own travel, made their own uniforms, and practiced on uneven ground.
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At the time, men’s cricket in India was having trouble with its infrastructure, but women’s cricket survived because they worked hard. If the early pioneers hadn’t kept going, there wouldn’t be a stage for today’s stars like Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Jemimah Rodrigues.
Every athlete who has done well has had a coach who believed in them long before anyone else did. There is a lot of women’s cricket in India because coaches at the grassroots and national levels had to work with very little money and resources.
Even though there weren’t many resources or support, local coaches in small towns trained young girls. A lot of people had to convince their parents to let them send their daughters to cricket practice.
Some people paid for their own gear, practice games, and even travel. Coaches like Purnima Rau, WV Raman, Ramesh Powar, and others were very important in making people all over the country stronger, smarter, and more mentally tough. Their work turned the Indian women’s team from a group of talented people into a team that could compete with the best in the world.
A lot of these coaches worked behind the scenes, away from the cameras, so the players could shine. This isn’t always clear to people.
Families’ Quiet Strength
In a country where cricket is still mostly seen as a men’s sport, the families of women cricketers deserve a lot of credit. It was never easy to get conservative parents to let their daughters play professional sports.
A lot of families had to deal with stress from other people, money problems, and not knowing what would happen next. But they kept going. Parents got up early to take their daughters to practice, saved money for kits, and believed in dreams that didn’t promise them money for years. This revolution was helped a lot by families.
For instance, Smriti Mandhana’s father was her first coach, and Harmanpreet Kaur’s family helped her move from Punjab to Mumbai.
These families may never win a trophy, but their faith made them winners.
People who were administrators but never got any praise
The Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) ran women’s cricket until the BCCI took over in 2006. They weren’t very well-known or wealthy. Administrators worked for free, gave tours to people with little money, and fought all the time to keep the sport going.
A lot of people behind the scenes worked hard to make scheduling, player contracts, domestic tournaments, and facilities better, even after the BCCI took over. After years of lobbying and planning by administrators who don’t often appear on TV, central contracts, better match fees, and professional tournament structures were put in place.
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) just started, but these people have been working on it for a long time.
Ground staff, support staff, and physiotherapists
People don’t always see how hard the support staff works because professional sports are so exciting. Many professionals make sure that players can do their best.
They do things like get the fields ready, clean the stadiums, and help players who are hurt or recovering. The team travels to different cities and countries with physiotherapists, trainers, analysts, massage therapists, logistics managers, and kit managers.
They work a lot of hours and don’t get much credit for what they do. Their job keeps athletes from getting hurt or burned out, which helps them have longer careers and better performances. Since women’s cricket became a full-time professional sport, it has changed a lot. It was hard to find resources before. It took a long time and a lot of hard work.
What State Associations and Domestic Cricket Do
The women’s game has grown because of India’s big domestic structure. State associations, inter-zonal competitions, age-group tournaments, university games, and academy leagues all made good players all the time.
Long before there were TV cameras, thousands of players from U-15, U-19, and senior levels played against each other. Scouts and selectors worked hard to find good players in places like Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and the North-East. This domestic grind made players like Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Mithali Raj, and Jhulan Goswami. India’s pool of talent would never have grown without this system and the people who run it.
Women’s cricket has been trying to get people to notice it for a long time. Some sports reporters, photographers, and digital platforms kept telling these stories even when TRP numbers were low. They showed games in the country, talked about the problems of individual players, and made fans and players feel like they were all on the same team.
Over time, social media made these voices louder. Millions of people heard stories about centuries in a row, last-ball thrillers, and comebacks that seemed impossible. This consistent storytelling changed how people felt about women’s cricket and helped them build a loyal fan base.
The Turning Point: Getting Noticed at Last
Everything changed after the 2017 Women’s World Cup. Everyone in India was interested in how the team got to the final. All of a sudden, these players were no longer “women cricketers.” They were just cricket players.
The sport has become more professional since then, thanks to the WPL, equal match fees, central contracts, and full media coverage. But it didn’t happen right away. It took years of hard work by people who believed in women’s cricket when few others did. You can’t just celebrate the stars. It’s not just about batters who hit sixes or bowlers who are really fast. It’s also about faith, hard work, sacrifice, and working together.
This was a great time for every local coach who set up practice sessions in the early morning, every parent who chose dreams over doubt, every unpaid administrator who fought for tournaments, and every ground staff member who quietly prepared pitches.
Their stories show us that sports revolutions don’t just happen to one person; they happen to whole communities. When young girls in India pick up a bat or ball with confidence today, they are standing on the shoulders of many brave women who have been forgotten. Women’s cricket is successful not only because of skill and talent, but also because of the courage, strength, and support of people who aren’t seen.
As fans, we should respect not just the runs and wickets, but also the paths that led to them. People who helped women’s cricket grow in India may never make the news, but there wouldn’t be any news at all if they hadn’t.
And in every cheer that fills the stadium today, you can finally hear their quiet victory.
