Shah Rukh Khan turned chauffeur to ferry four celebrated woman cricketers in a recent Hyundai Alcazar ad. As the Women’s World Cup Cricket is underway, it’s clear that women’s cricket has gained a significant popularity over years. It was a revolution during the 2017 World Cup when the Indian eves went from barely noticed to national sensations when they reached the final.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s majestic unbeaten 171 against Australia in the semi-final reminded many of Kapil Dev’s unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup! The popularity only intensified after the ladies reached the 2020 T20 World Cup final. Indian women reached the final of the 2005 World Cup as well, but that mostly went unnoticed as all the matches were not televised. Social media also created a huge difference in 2017.

Turning point

And 2017 was really a change-point for women’s cricket. “The impacts of the 2017 World Cup have obviously changed the way we play,” as perceived by Meg Lanning, Australia captain, ahead of the 2022 tournament.

Still, in 2019, BCCI rejected Royal Challengers Bangalore’s idea of a mixed-gender T20 match. Some think that mixed-gender cricket would help promote the women’s game while some feel this is yet another attempt to squeeze more money out of cricket.

When the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup cricket was held in India along with the men’s tournament, ICC had paid for all the men’s teams to fly business class, while the women’s teams flew economy.

While Australian Cricket chose to cop the cost of the upgrade themselves, New Zealand Cricket didn’t do that for the White Ferns. It created a huge uproar in New Zealand. The economics of men’s and women’s cricket are visibly different. Most people cry ‘revenue’ as the reason for the huge pay gap between men’s and women’s cricket.

Smriti Mandhana, however, is not bothered by a pay cheque lower than her male counterparts as she understands that the “revenue which we get is through men’s cricket”. The ICC increased the “overall prize money pot” in women’s World Cup by 75 per cent, and the earning of the women cricketers have also increased substantially during the last few years. Still, they earn a fraction of what the male cricketers earn.

Admittedly, there’s a difference between the way men and women play cricket. No woman bowler bowls as fast as Mitchell Starc, no woman batter hits the ball as hard as MS Dhoni. But, Tennis is not at all less physically demanding than cricket, yet Tennis is known as one of the most equal in gendered sports today. In the 1970s, women players received only a quarter of the prize money received by men and Billie Jean King refused to play the 1973 US Open unless received equal prize money. It took 37 more years to bring that desired equality though.

Then, the 2013 US Open final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka drew a TV rating of 4.9 while the men’s final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic earned a 2.8 rating! Well, the US viewership of the 2019 Women’s World Cup Soccer final was 22 per cent higher than the 2018 men’s final. The same happened in 2015 as well. And do we really know the revenue-generating potential of women’s cricket? Was that properly tested?

It was a game-changer when the Big Bash League created a women’s version (WBBL) in 2015. Last year’s WBBL was the fourth most-watched domestic sporting league in Australia. The final drew an average audience of 535,000 across linear and digital broadcast platforms. And a sportsperson such as Ellyse Perry, who represented Australia both in cricket and football, believes the ceiling is a long way from being reached for WBBL.

There’s Kia Super League in England too. However, no women’s IPL yet. After the 2017 World Cup, Mithali Raj batted for a women’s T20 league in India. And it might have tremendous business potential!

Mithali Raj didn’t like to be compared with Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. She liked to be known for her own game and own identity. However, a separate identity of women’s cricket has already been created. Women have come out of spectators’ stands and stepped on the field to be cheered. Cadbury’s 2021 ‘Kuch Khaas Hai’ ad with a gender-swap twist of its iconic 1994 ad may be an indication of changing attitude of society.

Even Bollywood is showing enthusiasm to make a biopic of a leading woman cricketer. As the economic potential of women’s cricket is waiting to be explored, the women are here to grab their shares of the opportunities. Mithali Raj or Smriti Mandhana has become a popular face in the ad world! Who knows, cricket administrators may also peg for a mixed-gender IPL in the future. But, does women’s cricket need that now?

For the time being, women’s cricket and its cricketers in India are enjoying a star-driven luxury ride, a truly futuristic journey!

The writer is Professor of Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

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