We have been building something special with women’s cricket: Harmanpreet Kaur

The captain of the Indian women's T20 team Harmanpreet Kaur believes the Women’s T20 challenge will be a shot in the arm for the women’s game in the country. Earlier, the ODI captain of the Indian team Mithali Raj had expressed similar sentiments. The short tournament will be played alongside the IPL in the UAE. The scheduling of the tournament, however, had left much to be desired for the international stars as it is likely to clash with the Women’s BBL.

Australian wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy was one of the few stars who was critical of the BCCI’s scheduling of the Women’s T20 Challenge. Although she believes that the clash between the two leagues will be a loss, with the players having to choose one over the other, Harmanpreet Kaur was still optimistic about the progress of the women’s game in the country. ”But we have been building something special with women's cricket in recent years, the board has backed us, and it is important for us to carry the momentum going forward,” said Harmanpreet Kaur to Reuters via Email.

With the pandemic coming at a time when Indian women’s team was making tremendous progress, reaching the finals of the World T20 earlier in the year a case in point, concerns were raised over whether the momentum would be arrested. The scheduled tour of England has also been postponed owing to the pandemic. Kaur, however, took a positive outlook on things when questioned about it. "No, I am sure cricket fans definitely do remember our run to the final in the World Cup earlier this year,” she said. "We are now facing some challenging times since and is important for us to get through this.”

[Reuters inputs]