HTLS 2022: Long Covid, Women's IPL dominate Day 1 talk on ‘new tomorrow’

‘I’m happy at a point where I retire, because the team is really doing well' - Mithali Raj

“Winning a World Cup was one of my biggest goal.” - Mithali Raj

Jhulan Goswami on how to continue playinh the sport for several years.

"I don't think hum dono ne kabhi training miss kiya hain, humlog England bhi gaye they, waha pe public gym dhund k training kar k aaye they (the two of us have never missed training. When we toured England, we found a public gym and trained there as well).  

“It's very important to understand every player. The player needs to understand, what a senior or captain wants to convey. It is important to find the right wire to make them understand.” 

“I am sure most of us who played in the 90s or early 2000s, we didn't really think about instant gratification that overnight we need to be stars or anything. For us, the joy was to wear the India blues, play together, and enjoy what was happening on the ground. I can say that the 16-18 year old today are far more exposed to many things, they come prepared with overall personality but we actually had to work on our personality. As 16 year old, we were so naïve and innocent, we hardly knew much about the outside world. Travelling alone was a huge deal but now they travel across the globe on their own. So it is also one generation to the other, the evolution of the sport and how the sport has grown and even in terms of society, the exposure that the current generation of players enjoy. Because everywhere there are leagues and they travel and with those leagues, they gain a lot of match experience. 

"For us, the match experience was domestic games and then we would get into the national and international. In terms of facilities also, until we came under BCCI, whatever we could manage we would be more innovative in our training sessions. We would practice on mat and then go and play on a turf wicket. We had to do the adjustment, in the current scenario, I remember when we travelled, to endure the jet lag, to get out it would take 3-4 days. And we would get like a week where we played one practice game and get used to the climate and everything but then we get out of the flight and within two days, you are straight into an international ODI game that we have played. 

"So there is a huge difference but yes that is also part of the journey of the sport and I think I would be very fortunate to have actually lived to enjoy even that side of it. It has its own charm and coming into the current scenario, it's a lot more professional in terms of how they look for a player, in terms of how they look at in terms of preparation, facilities like we have a video analyst, we have a bowling coach, so every department has a head. So if you have any trouble with say batting, you have a batting coach. You can improve your fielding through a fielding coach. Whereas in those days, there was a coach and a manager and everything was looked after by the captain and the coach. So there was no other assistance. 

"But now you have so much information at a click that all you have to do is probably, do your homework well and get onto the ground. So I think in a way the technology also simplified a lot of things, but yes, it does have its own challenges also, there is so much competition, there is no surprise element anymore. Like if Jhulan has any variation, in today's time, everyone would know when she is bowling what variation whereas in those days, if you had a variation, to figure it out is too serious an ask. Because we didn't have any match videos which we could go back and watch. So that era had its own challenges, the current are has its own challenges. But overall, there has been tremendous growth in terms of the standard of the sport. With the inception of the T20 format, slowly I am sure and I am very optimistic that even Test matches will be revived. We were fortunate to play a pink ball Test before we retired...a day and night Test match which we never dreamt of. I think a lot of things are happening and to add to Jhulan said that next year is going to be biggest because there is an under19 world cup happening for the first time that you know under 16 to under 19 girls can compete at that level where they are wearing the India jerseys and the some pool of players will tomorrow graduate into three years to play for the senior level. 

"Similarly, the unidentified players who don't get too much of an opportunity to showcase their talent can actually be groomed in an IPL team. That is another platform to show that they are good enough to play the higher level. So I think these tournaments actually create and expand the pool of players to an extent that maybe in 3-4 years we get to see India A and India B. Our bench strength will be solid so that will create a healthy competitiveness among, within the Indian circuit that tomorrow the other teams would look at the Indian team as the team to beat.”

“It's going to help our cricketers massively.” 

"Enough of long strides in the last 20 years, I have done more than 20 lakh strides probably but honestly speaking, definitely, it is a good thing for women's cricket. We all are looking forward to this because since the last 5-6 years, we have kept asking for this because this is the new generation of cricket. That is how Australia developed their cricket, that is how their grassroots level developed, that is how England cricket is growing so nicely," she said.

"So we also need for our domestic cricketers, I want to see our domestic cricketers have decent amount of facilities, decent amount of mindset and when they will go to international cricket, at least they should feel little confident and they should not feel that it will take 3-4 series to settle down and then you're playing so earlier we used to face those things. I think this gap will have to narrow and that is why I am so excited because I want to see... talent we have, we just want to gap that mental setback kind of stuff."

“I've kept that open for a fact that if there is still some more time, there are few more months for me to make up whether I want to get in as a player or in any other capacity” - Mithali Raj on participation on Women's IPL

“We were fortunate to play a pink-ball Test before we retired” - Mithali Raj

Jhulan highlights India's growth at the global level despite the lack of participation.

“You can understand, small pool of players and you are consistent. In the last 4-5 years playing all those finals, two ICC events we played finals, first Commonwealth game, we won the Asia Cup. So only a few girls are participating in our country, if that volume increases, what's going to happen in India? You needn't look back to Australia and other countries, people will start following our own country girls and they will be what Mithali said, household names. And now probably, few people in rural areas don't know, don't watch, they don't have internet connection or television also, they don't have time. But if you create that buzz, definitely girls will come and participate. And from the village girls only play sports in our country, maximum times in our country, either it is football or hockey or cricket also. So that buzz is required and that should be entered in India, not just one region of India. Then the growth will not be faster, growth will be slow. So i think we have to wait for some more time. I am very much hopeful, after IPL and in a few years, Indian cricket is going to dominate world cricket and the amount of quality cricketers we have, definitely Mithali also agrees. Because in the domestic, there are few facilities we have, still the amount of quality girls that are participating, think about when you get all those facilities. The growth will be at the next level, so I am very much hopeful that Indian cricket in the near future, definitely going to dominate world cricket.” 

“After Women's IPL, India is going to dominate world cricket”: Jhulan Goswami

"Well, I think that thought probably would have crossed all of us at some point and not just us, as players. At some point, cricket folk girls, we were not able to sustain ourselves because there was absolutely no money. So even if we were national cricketers, most of the help financially that we got were from our parents’ pockets or like I am employed with Railways and Jhulan is employed with Air India. So prior to BCCI adopting women's cricket, these were the two institutions which offered jobs and Indian railways still is the only institution now which is still offering jobs to the women cricketers. I think other than this, there is no other way that a girl can continue to play cricket and sustain also, if she is not from an affluent family. Say if they are from a lower middle class or from such a background where the entire family is dependent on them, then they are forced to change their field to look after the parents.

"But this move has really changed that. And of course, what she rightly said that in a way, now the society looks at women's cricket with a lot of respect. You know that is also so important, it comes with all these decisions. I think that like you also said that there were many talented players who could have extended their careers, or we could have had a far better pool of players, had we had similar match fees in the past or in some way. But then it started slowly, as things came under the BCCI, things started to change. Looking at change, it doesn't happen overnight. Everything takes time, there is no sport in history where the women started on par with men. Even women's tennis when it started, it was nowhere close to men's tennis. Over a period of time, you know women's tennis also has grown. So similarly, women's cricket has its own journey as a sport, the evolution of it is very different from men's cricket and people should view it as a different sport and not constantly compare it like- saying in men's cricket the essential contract is so much, women's cricket ka nahi hai or match fees itna nahi hai. These were talks in the past, but slowly I think now things are changing for better and this sort of an example as Jhulan said, a lot of other federations and organisations can take leaf from and try to promote women's sport. Unless and until, you promote and start somewhere you cannot take it further. The process of growth has to go on, has to continue."

“Well, what she said, definitely I am not going to say same thing. But I will say in other way. I feel that this movement will have lot of impact in our society because we come from such backgrounds. Sports has always been a secondary, as a girl child. Now people will start thinking in a different way that people will start to say that you go and play any kind of sport, any kind of event, just go and play. This is a small step towards gender equality. And the second thing in India, lot of other events are going on, but unfortunately in all these events, the counterparts don't get same amount of facilities. Fortunately, we get that kind of good facilities. Yes, pay scale will now start. But in terms of facilities, other women team didn't get that kind of facilities. Probably this decision that BCCI has taken, it will give all other federation to give them same amount of respect and same amount of facility. It will help Indian sporting culture. I think it's a good step and definitely, much thanks to BCCI and all of them. This talk was going on since long time. Both of us had done lot of conversations but definitely, it takes time and this is the right time.”

“I think it's a huge step. I have said in numerous interviews for the past two days. It's like a milestone in Indian women's cricket and also globally. As many know that from where women cricketers come and it has evolved into a sport now where there are so many talented players coming up. The team has been doing well in the last 4-5 years. Since 2017, many of you have become part of the fan base of women's cricket. Globally also the women's cricket has gained popularity. There is a huge growth. So I think it has come at the right time and if we aim to see women's cricket come to the level of men's cricket, this is the step in that direction. In terms of young girls who are looking to take up cricket as a profession, for their parents, this gives confidence and it shows faith that this career option can be a sustainable one where a girl who is passionate playing cricket, can aim to spend all her energy, time into turning this profession as a career and not necessarily have to go in search of jobs, tomorrow. By having the same match fees, it's in a way saying that this sport can sustain you, you can look after your family, you can invest into your own training in terms of resources and facilities. So I think overall, it's a huge step in the right direction.”

We have Mithali Raj and and Jhulan Goswami speaking with Ashish Magotra, National Sports Editor of Hindustan Times. 

Dr Jha said that the capability of the scientific community gives him the most assurance in fighting such pandemic.

Perhaps one of the lesser known problems surrounding the Covid-19 is Long Covid or post-Covid conditions, in which people infected with the virus can suffer from one or more symptoms for weeks afterwards, even after the virus itself has left their body.

"Post-viral syndromes are widely known... so this is common. That said, it does seem to be more of a problem with SARS Covid. So, how well do we understand Long Covid? We are learning but there are fundamental issues on which we need more information," he said.

Dr Jha stressed, though, that Long Covid is not one condition. "For some people it is immunological, for others it is something else. What we need to do is separate those as individual problems and work on targeted therapies," he clarified.

Speaking on the severity of coronavirus variants, Dr Jha said that the assumption that viruses would become less serious over time is not a given.

“There is a widely held belief that viruses always evolve to become less lethal over time. I wish that was true, I don't think that is true. In fact there is plenty of historical evidence of viruses that evolved to become more lethal over time.”

“So I would say that I am very pleased to see that Omicron, in general, has been less severe than Delta. But if you think about it, Delta probably more severe than Alpha or the original variant. So we did see evolution towards more serious, now we have seen evolution towards less serious. And my hope is that we will continue seeing evolution towards either the same or more or less serious over time but I would not assume that it is a given, given that viruses can really surprise us.”

Dr Jha stressed that schools should be the last thing to shut and first thing to open up when the world is hit by “something really bad”.

“I think we have learnt a lot on how to keep schools safe and you have to make priorities as a society of what’s most important and I think all of us would agree that educating children, making sure that schools are because obviously ….and the good news is, at this point, two and a half years into managing this virus we know how to keep schools safe and we have done in the United States, it has been done in Europe, it has been done in India.” 

“So, I would say – my kind of mental model is if you get hit by something really bad, schools should be the last things to close and the first things to open up. That’s how you should prioritize. And in the context of where we are I see nothing that suggests schools should ever have to shut down again.”

Dr Ashish Jha said that the Covid Zero strategy “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense" as vaccines are widely available and easily accessible.

“There could have been a case for Zero Covid in the early days of the pandemic. At this point, it doesn't make sense to me as a strategy, certainly not the strategy that India is pursuing. It is not the strategy that the United States is pursuing. And here’s why. We have to take different approaches to a pandemic at different phases of the pandemic. And when you don’t have any tools, you don’t have vaccines, you don’t have treatments, you don’t have treatments, good diagnostic testing, being more aggressive in controlling the virus makes a lot of sense. But that’s not where we are.”

“We are at a point where vaccines are widely available, easily accessible. We have treatments now that are coming online. We need to keep working on making them come online faster. In that context, I think Zero Covid, to me at least, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. What it seems to me is at this point, it’s about managing the virus, making sure that it doesn’t kill a lot of people, that it doesn’t disrupt society, and that it let us function. But the virus is going to be around forever. I don’t fully understand how a Zero Covid policy is sustainable over the long term.”

In conversation with R Sukumar, editor-in-chief, Hindustan Times, Dr Ashish Jha said that the evolution of the virus at a remarkable pace remains a concern but the humanity is also able to keep pace with it.

“We have so much immunity across the world between vaccinations and prior infections that it is putting an evolutionary pressure on the virus to find a way around that immunity.”

“So we are seeing the emergence of more and more immune evasive versions of the virus variants. But the good news is that as the virus is changing, so is humanity. We are able to do things like update vaccines. We are able to do things that can keep up with the virus, and, in fact, get ahead of the virus. So, it worries me that the virus continues to do what it does but it reassures me that we as humanity can respond to it and are not powerless in terms of how we deal with it.”