Data Point | On the rise: Indian women cricketers are closing the gap with men in T20 cricket

The opening: Delhi Capitals’ captain Meg Lanning (L), Mumbai Indians’ captain Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana (2R), Gujarat Giants’ captain Beth Mooney (2L) and UP Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy (R) pose with the trophy during the opening ceremony of 2023 Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai.
| Photo Credit: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

The world of cricket has taken a significant step towards gender equality with the start of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in Mumbai on March 4, 2023. It’s a game-changer for women’s cricket in India as the 21-match tournament is an excellent opportunity for Indian women cricketers who desperately need exposure. It’s an opportunity for both young debutants and senior players, who have not yet had the chance to prove themselves on the field, to showcase their talents and find a place in the Indian women’s cricket team.

However, their journey wasn’t easy. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) didn’t come up with the WPL in a hurry. It was a result of the consistently improving performance of Indian women in cricket. In 2018, the BCCI conducted the Women’s T20 Challenge, which featured two teams — Trailblazers and Supernovas — led by star Indian players Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, respectively. The tournament continued in the following years until 2022, with a new team added in 2019.

In October 2022, the BCCI implemented a ‘pay equity policy’ for its contracted women cricketers and raised their match fees to match that of their male counterparts. This is a credible move towards gender equality in cricket and provides financial support to women players who have broken many glass ceilings to find their place in Indian cricket. The WPL tournament, with the exposure and monetary compensation it offers, is a much-needed morale booster for women players. It’s a platform for women to prove their mettle and showcase their talent

.India’s first women’s T20I match was held on August 5, 2006, in Derby, England. The women’s team managed to restrict the English side to a score of 107/8 in 20 overs, and Rumeli Dhar scored a half-century (66 runs). India marked its first victory against England in its debut T20 match, scoring 109/2.

Since then, the Indian women’s cricket team has come a long way. While there was a steady upward trajectory in their performance, it wasn’t until 2014 that the team could score above 150. On March 30, 2014, Harmanpreet Kaur scored a clean 77 off 59 balls, as India triumphed against Bangladesh at 151/5.

Over the years, the number of T20 matches played by the Indian women’s team has consistently increased, and it peaked in the latest season with 23 international T20 matches played, the highest ever. This increase in matches played has reflected in the scoring rate of the team, with the runs per over (RPO) and boundaries scored by the team seeing a significant rise

.India recorded its highest T20I score to date, 198/4 in 20 overs, on March 25, 2018. However, despite Mithali Raj’s half-century (53 runs) and Smriti Mandhana’s 76 runs, India lost the match to England, who scored 199/3 in 18.4 overs, thanks to Danielle Wyatt’s remarkable century (124 runs).

India’s second-highest T20I score of 194 runs came in a winning cause against New Zealand in the same year. Harmanpreet Kaur made history on November 9, 2018, by becoming the first Indian woman to score a century in the T20Is. She played an incredible innings, hitting 103 runs off just 51 balls and leading India to a victory against New Zealand. In the match, Harmanpreet smashed eight sixes and seven boundaries, displaying impeccable batting skills.

It’s worth noting that the gap in the runs per over (RPO) between the men’s and women’s teams in T20 cricket has been continuously decreasing. Over the last four seasons, India’s RPO in women’s T20 games has been above seven, which is close to the men’s RPO of 8.43 in the 2022/23 season.

Check out this story to know more about the progress made by Indian women in the field of cricket

The trend of narrowing differences can also be observed in the average number of boundaries scored per match by men and women in T20 cricket. In the 2008/09 season, the difference was almost eight, while in the latest season, it has decreased to almost half, at 4.3.

Fortnightly figures

• 12.4% Is the growth in India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues in February 2023 to over ₹1.49 lakh crore, with tax receipts from goods imports rising 6% and domestic transactions along with services imports yielding 15% more, compared to a year ago. The gross GST kitty collected in February marks the 12th successive month that monthly revenues have been over ₹1.4 lakh crore, although it was 5.06% lower than January’s ₹1,57, 554 crore receipts. 
• 16.8% The rise in India’s net direct tax collection to touch ₹13.73 lakh crore, reflecting a slight dip in growth over the past month but reaching within striking distance of the Budget target for this year, with three weeks still to go. Gross collections stood at ₹16.68 lakh crore by Friday, 22.58% higher than the tax inflows in the corresponding period of 2021-22. The uptick in net Personal Income Tax collections continued to outstrip Corporate Income Tax flows, rising 20.73% year-on-year compared to a 13.62% increase in the latter. 
• Only 1% of the ambitious target of one crore people were scanned for sickle cell disease in 2022-23 by the Health Ministry, according to official data accessed by The Hindu from the National Health Mission’s portal for sickle cell disease. The Ministry plans to screen seven crore people from 17 highly affected States by 2025-26 as the country seeks to eliminate the disease by 2047. Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder in which the red blood cells of the patient turn into a sickle-shaped crescent cell, become rigid and sticky, and get clogged in the blood vessels, reducing the cell’s capacity to carry oxygen. It causes excruciating pain and organ damage in affected patients.
• 6.44% was India’s retail inflation in February, remaining above the central bank’s 6% tolerance threshold for the second successive month and virtually unchanged from 6.52% in January, as per the National Statistical Office. The price rise faced by urban consumers inched up marginally from 6% in January to 6.1% in February, while it eased fractionally for rural consumers from 6.85% to 6.72% in February. The Consumer Food Price Index rose 5.95% in February, just a tad lower than the 6% recorded in January. 
• 84,866 is the number of posts lying vacant in six Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF) against the total sanctioned strength of 10,05,520, the Rajya Sabha was informed. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the recruitment of 31,785 personnel in the CAPFs has been done in the past five months. The vacancies in the CAPFs are on account of retirements, resignations, promotion, death, the new raising of the battalion, creation of new posts etc, he added.

Chart of the week

The chart shows the amount in ₹ each State got for every rupee they contributed to the Central taxes in 2021-22. For every one rupee that Tamil Nadu gives the Centre, it gets back 29 paise. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh gets ₹2.73, and Bihar gets back ₹7.06. 

The Centre’s tax collections are pooled-in from States and a part of it is distributed among them, based on the Finance Commission’s (FC) formula. The Fifteenth Finance Commission’s (XVFC) formula is skewed in favour of some States, resulting in wide inter-State variations. As the population is given a higher weightage, it tilts the balance in favour of some of the northern States. This has been a bone of contention between the Centre and the affected States.

Read more about the friction between the States and the Centre on the revenue sharing formula here

Flashback

The latest Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS) has disputed the Central government’s claim in 2019 that all Indian villages are open defecation-free (ODF).  According to the MIS released in March this year, conducted between January 2020 and August 2021, in 21.3% of rural households, a majority said they had no access to any type of latrine (own, shared, public). The data point titled, “Another government survey debunks Swachh Bharat’s 100% ODF claim, count increases to four”, published on March 15, 2023, showed the disparity between the government’s claim on open defecation-free villages in India and data from the government surveys conducted during or after 2019.

The MIS survey is the fourth in the last five years to debunk the ODF claim. The data point titled, “Over 25% rural households defecate in the open in contrast to Swachh Bharat data”, published on May 17, 2022, using the data from the National Health Family Survey-5 (2019-21) showed how though the share has decreased over the years, one in four rural households continued to defecate in the open.

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