Remembering Indian women’s cricket pioneer Mahendra Sharma

He toiled in the early 1970s to promote women’s cricket and then helped it grow as the first secretary of Women’s Cricket Association of India, which merged with BCCI in 2006

Losing Mahendra Kumar Sharma to prolonged illness made former India all-rounder Shubhangi Kulkarni emotional. For someone like Sharma, who had laid the foundation for women’s cricket in India, it would have been wonderful if he had been alive to see BCCI launch a T20 league for women in a few months and the game go to another level, felt Kulkarni. Sharma, in his mid 70s, died in Pune on November 8.

File photo (Twitter/outof22yards)

Even before someone could visualise the future of women’s cricket in India, it was Sharma who took keen interest in its development, making sure it survived for 32 years without BCCI affiliation. A former softball player, Sharma had a vision for women’s cricket and registered the Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) under the Societies Act in Lucknow in 1973.

It was not easy to arrange funds to organise cricket tournament at national or international levels. Sharma, because of his passion for the game, managed to arrange funds through donations. He sometimes paid from his own pocket to keep the show going. Praising the efforts of Sharma, Kulkarni, who was secretary of WCAI from 2003 to 2005, said: “He was a dynamic person who felt competing at international level was pivotal to make the game popular and to maintain good standards.

“The first national meet in 1973 in Pune saw three states take part, followed by 14 and 22 the following years. Paucity of funds made it tough but he made sure women’s cricket kept going. Out of curiosity people came to see the matches in places like Kolkata, Indore, Pune, Lucknow and New Delhi.”

WCAI caught everyone’s eye it held its first camp for the Indian team in Kolkata in 1974, which had Lala Amarnath as coach. “Mr Sharma made it happen. It was a new concept. Making a former Indian male cricketer coach of the women’s camp was a new thing. He was very active and thereafter thought of bringing international women cricketers to India,” added Kulkarni.

Sharma was founding secretary of WCAI for its first five years and was in charge of India's hosting of their first Women's World Cup in 1978 at a time when the governing body largely relied on donations from individuals and the government.

WCAI hosted two Women's World Cups, including a successful 1997 edition in which England played Australia in the final in front of nearly 80,000 fans at Eden Gardens. India women played their first-ever Test in 1976 in Bengaluru with Sharma at the helm.

Anuradha Dutt, a successful Delhi-based lawyer, took over from Sharma in 1991 as WCAI secretary and provided much-required filllip to the game with a handful of sponsorships. She started to press the need for merging WCAI with BCCI in the 1990s, though it happened much later. “Mr Sharma certainly kept women’s cricket alive for so many years with limited resources. If he had not started it then, India would have been 20-30 years behind other countries. So, credit should go to him for doing his bit,” said Dutt.

“The final between India and Australia in 2005 was also a hit. It was a stepping stone for bringing the women’s sport under BCCI’s umbrella. WCAI was affiliated with the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) but then all other women’s cricket bodies and the IWCC got merged with the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ICC insisted that WCAI must merge with BCCI. They gave us one year and when in November 2006 it happened, Mr Sharma was the happiest man.

“He was pushing us all in WCAI to go for it and convince BCCI. And just how BCCI has changed women’s cricket in India,” added Kulkarni, who played a major role in helping WCAI merge with BCCI when Sharad Pawar was the board president in 2006.

“It is just amazing to see where the sport has reached today. With the equal pay policy in place, sponsors running towards women cricketers and BCCI having its own T20 league next year, it is heart-warming. Mr Sharma’s contribution had brought Indian women’s cricket to this point.

“Yes, women’s cricket in India was Mr Sharma’s baby,” said Dutt.