The other day, my dad and I came across a picture and we decided to perform a little experiment. We sent that picture to our extended family group on WhatsApp and by me, I mean my dad. He asked a simple question with that photo. ‘Which cricketer’s childhood picture is this?’ The replies that we received were ‘Thats Sehwag for sure.’, ‘No wait, Thats Dhoni.’, ‘Its not Kohli for sure, that is either Sehwag or Rishabh Pant’.
Let me attach that picture below. Before reading further, I would like for you to take a guess as well.
Thats a picture of young Mithali Dorai Raj. If you guessed it right, then I’m glad that you exist and decided to read this article but if you failed and made all your guesses like my lovely aunts and uncles, then don’t worry a great deal of people probably guessed the same.
Cricket is the most popular sport in India. The sport is celebrated in every state. You will find the country’s entire population of 1.3 billion glued to their television screens during World Cups. We have the best cricket teams. Both men’s and women’s. Indian cricket teams are currently number 2 in ICC ODI Championship. Again this is for both men’s and women’s teams.
So my question is simple… why is it that we are more informed of men’s team than women’s? Why is our media coverage so sexist? Why is there a huge pay gap? Well, if you think of it then the 3rd question will cease to exist if the 2nd question’s issue is resolved.
Cricket is among many other things introduced by the British which has internalized to make our hearts beat exclusively for the ‘men in blue’. The reason for the crazy fandom towards this sport is distribution by the popular media. Media generates popularity among people, and well, unfortunately the coverage is mainly focused on the men’s team taking away visibility from women’s team leaving them with very little sponsorship, thereby creating the pay gap.
Patriarchal societies have always taken women’s work for granted. The first time when people saw women coming together was when the first wave of feminism demanded for the right to vote, as well as the property ownership rights. It came as shock for the society as women were never seen as a separate entity who could make decisions for themselves. They decided to distance themselves from the stereotypes that were already created for them. However, after several years of struggle to establish equality within the society, the society has somehow undermined the work done by women and cited this as a reason, along with others, to maintain a significant pay gap in the workplace, even in the domain of cricket.
In a country like ours, which is obsessed with “Alpha males” and “masculinity”, women’s cricket has been a way through which the ideals of feminity, imagined and constructed by men are broken.
Through sports, a space is created for women to break down the stereotypes associated with women being ‘fragile’ or ‘weak’. But the problem that they unfortunately face, despite their huge success on the field, is the amount of pay which is extremely less when compared to the male athletes. Lets talk facts, Mithali Raj, the captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, earns only 7% of the amount that Virat Kohli, the captain of men’s cricket team, earns in a year.
Adidas’ statement on the ‘same performance bonus payout as their male peers’ says a lot about the situation of the present day Neo-liberal capitalism.
Despite the huge gender pay gap, Long gone are the days when women cricketers were a neglected lot and have all facilities at their disposal. For the final of the women’s T20 Cricket World Cup between Australia and India, the attendance was an indication that, when given exposure and promotion, women’s sport has the ability to gain public attention and enthusiasm equal to men’s sport.
‘Full-fledged IPL tournament featuring 5-6 teams ‘would be great’ for Indian women’s cricket’, says Smriti Mandhana.
However, Unlike Australia and England, India does not have a domestic T20 league. Domestic cricket leagues in a cricket fanatic country like ours would be a huge success and would also help with the pay gap issue which still remain unbridged. Hopefully this is just the beginning for a greater future for our women in blue.
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