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Nithya Subramanian

"It's almost a chicken-and-egg situation. The interest in women's cricket is low and hence the sponsors are not coming. On the other hand there is need for some kind of corporate support to popularise the game."

New Delhi , Nov. 24

IN the greens of Jamia Millia University, the Girls in Blue (read Indian women's cricket team) gave a tough fight to their counterparts from England. But unlike the high-voltage, spectator-filled, sponsor-chasing men's game, this one-off test match is rather low-key.

Just a few public sector companies such as BSNL, MTNL, NTPC and ONGC are supporting the event while Sahara is the team sponsor.

And when Dravid's Devils are to take on South Africa, the live coverage of the India-England Women's Test match on Doordarshan will get blipped. Prasar Bharati sources said that the large advertising revenue from men's cricket is prompting it to halt coverage of the women's game mid-way.

Mr Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Percept D'Mark, said, "We managed to get the team sponsorship from Sahara and are trying to convince more clients to do so too, especially since the team is playing well."

The girls reached the finals of the Women's World Cup held in South Africa in April this year.

So why is the women's team unable to catch the eye of the advertisers?

"It's almost a chicken-and-egg situation. The interest in women's cricket is low and hence the sponsors are not coming. On the other hand there is need for some kind of corporate support to popularise the game," said Mr Sandip Tarkas, CEO, Media Direction, part of RK Swamy/BBDO.

For instance, the game of cricket was popularised in Australia after Kerry Packer launched his version of the sport, making it shorter and snappier.

Similarly, channels such as ESPN Software and Zee Sports are investing in hockey and football.

But there are no such investments in women's cricket. "Each channel will look at the sports it wants to promote and invest accordingly. We have chosen hockey and are doing all that it takes to popularise the game," said Mr R.C Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software.

Mr Atul Phadnis, Vice-President, TAM India said that creating hype is also important to popularise a sport. There are times when a sport per se may not be very popular, but the tournament or event may be big.

Referring to Anju Boby George's long jump attempt at the Athens Olympic Games and Sania Mirza's performance at tennis Grand Slam tournaments, Mr Phadnis said that news channels and the media had built up the momentum resulting in high viewership numbers.

Though affiliated to the International Cricket Council, the Women's Cricket Association of India is not as cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Other countries such as Australia have a common board for governing men's and women's cricket team.

The Indian women's team could see better times if the two Boards merge here as well. Till then, cricket in India will predominantly be a male affair.

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