ICC World Cup: Pull up the Indian women’s team, but stop this misogyny

Can India pick up the pieces after three back-to-back shattering defeats and still make it to the semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Cup? Well, the lack of belief in themselves — apparent when it came to the crunch in all three games — makes it an extremely tough ask. Questions will certainly be asked of Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. and head coach Amol Muzumdar if they fail to go much deeper into the tournament.

For, let’s face it, just being the ‘women’s team’ does not absolve the blue shirts of accountability, of failing to manage expectations – more so since the event is being held at home after 12 years and the team also looked in good form in the bi-laterals.

What is, however, completely unacceptable and loathsome is the way the criticism is being layered with misogyny and sexist remarks.

To start with, there was the shocking remark from N. Srinivasan, a former ICC chairman and BCCI supremo, raked up after India failed to defend a 300-plus total against reigning champions Australia: ‘’If I had my way, I wouldn’t let women’s cricket happen. Women have no business playing cricket. We are only doing this because it is an ICC rule,’’ the octogenarian had remarked quite a few years back.

Numerous memes have been doing the rounds ridiculing the women’s team — a particularly nasty one from the verified X handle of Rushabh Patwa showing the India captain busy cooking at home with a post: ‘’Stick to kitchen. @imHarmanpreet and team.’’ (This was one of a whole series on his feed, of a similarly stereotyping tenor.)

The double standards are exceptionally stark in the treatment meted out to the men and women’s teams, both of which lost their matches on 19 October, Sunday — the former to Australia in Perth and the women here in Indore.

The criticism directed at Shubman Gill & Co., however, focused largely on cricketing issues — be it the failure of the Big Two on a spicy deck or the inability of the bowlers to prise out more than three wickets — while for women, the slant was on whether the support from the establishment for mere females was a ‘waste of money’, etc. The BCCI was panned for announcing pay parity in match fees for international appearances, while the wisdom behind the introduction for Women’s Premier League (WPL) itself was questioned.

It’s perhaps time to break down the myth vs reality around the financial health of women’s cricket in India.

It was a hugely laudable move from the cash-rich BCCI in 2022 (though New Zealand were the first movers) when it announced equal pay for both genders, with a fee of Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI and Rs 3 lakh per T20I. However, to put things into perspective, the women’s team just played one Test during 2024 against South Africa — versus the men’s 15 international Tests last year! The take-home is far from comparable.

As for the WPL, the decision to hold one was taken after due diligence, having experimented with a three-team Challenger — and it is market forces that drive the payment structure here. A bit of number-crunching: the highest paid player in the WPL 2025 was Simran Sheikh of Gujarat Titans with Rs 1.9 crore — versus Rishabh Pant’s record Rs 27 crore in the IPL, playing for the Lucknow Super Giants.

A gulf of difference in the percentages there. If one still grudges the exposure or the financial benefits the women earn, then it smacks of a patriarchal mindset and nothing else.

Even if Smriti Mandhana is the most marketable brand among India’s women sportspersons and must take her share of the flak for it, this loss cannot be her problem alone — for, let’s remember, she is also the youngest and fastest player to have reached 5,000 ODI runs. She certainly ain't slacking!

Back on the pitch, the Women in Blue now face a make-or-break match against the White Ferns on 22 October, Thursday — they have to win it to hang in there with any kind of a chance. And the best way to answer all the criticism and nastiness is with performance. The ball certainly is in the players’ court to prove their detractors wrong — though they shouldn’t have to just on account of being women!