With focus back on women’s cricket after their stellar show in the World Cup, the time is ripe for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to chart out a roadmap for development of the sport in India.
India women’s coach Tushar Arothe felt introducing under-16 cricket for girls would be an appropriate step.
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“The BCCI needs to start an under-16 tournament. At the moment we only have under-19 cricketers playing. That’s how we will be able to spot new talent and give more opportunities. I have heard from the girls that they don’t get enough opportunities from their state which needs to change now,” Arothe told Hindustan Times in a chat on Wednesday.
Arothe also urged the BCCI to organise more camps at junior levels. At the moment, the BCCI organises under-19, under-23 and senior tournaments for women. While men’s domestic cricket goes on almost round the year, the women’s calendar is finished in a couple of months.
“There are changes in the domestic structure to develop quality players but still there is a huge gap between domestic and international standards. It is matter of playing more games and giving them more opportunities,” said skipper Mithali Raj.
{{/usCountry}}“There are changes in the domestic structure to develop quality players but still there is a huge gap between domestic and international standards. It is matter of playing more games and giving them more opportunities,” said skipper Mithali Raj.
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Arothe also stressed on the need to play more competitive matches.
“For that we need to organise more matches against quality opponents like New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa. We need to play them regularly on home and away basis. I have always believed that if your bench strength is good, your first team will be good,” said Arothe.
The coach also wants more multi-day cricket being organised.
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“The girls have been playing one-dayers and T20s internationally. But I am surprised there are hardly any Test matches being played by the team. That’s the reason from last year onwards the BCCI has started multi-day tournaments. Multi-day tournaments will certainly help. Nowadays everyone prefers shorter formats. Even the girls prefer to play T20 and 50-over games. But they should be equipped to play all the three formats,” said Arothe.