Sportstar Sports Conclave Goa 2024: WPL, extra age-group tournaments have enabled ladies cricketers to dream greater

India quick bowler Shikha Pandey stated that the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and the introduction of extra age-group tournaments have enabled ladies to take up the sport throughout a dialogue on cricket’s future with former Goa captain Swapnil Asnodkar and Vipul Phadke, President, Goa Cricket Association. The session was moderated by Shayan Acharya (Senior Assistant Editor, Sportstar).

“I just played one year of Under-19 cricket, but now we have Under-15 tournaments for girls. Then you have Under-23, which has been introduced by the BCCI. Earlier, what happened was that after Under-19, not all the girls would make it to the senior team. There were times when the whole batch would be washed out. Now, because of the Under-23 tournament, they are still involved… When I started playing cricket, I had so many more friends who were really good, but they could not continue playing because they couldn’t persuade their parents.

“But with WPL and so many other tournaments happening now, a five-year-old gets to see a woman cricketer playing on TV, and they can dream bigger. The parents can also support their dreams,” she stated throughout the Sportstar Sports Conclave Goa in Panjim on Friday.

Phadke, in the meantime, attributed Goa’s incapability to win a Ranji Trophy title in virtually 45 years to the shortage of starvation amongst gamers and in addition stated that the GCA had didn’t establish expertise from the grassroots.

“It is quite unfortunate that we haven’t been able to win the Ranji Trophy for almost 45 years. The GCA has also failed on some aspects. The players don’t have the right attitude. The hunger is missing in many players now. During Swapnil’s time, the players were a little bit more dedicated. Their final aim shouldn’t be just playing the Ranji Trophy, but eventually playing for India. That is how they can push the bar. GCA has failed to produce young talent from the grassroots. We need to work at the Under-14 and Under-16 levels. We have started centres for junior boys, and we plan to expand this, decentralize the whole system, and take cricket to the villages of Goa. This will be a long journey, and it will take time. “We need professionals to set the bar higher. Getting an outstation player to play for Goa is always a gamble. At this moment, we need them. The ideal situation will be that we don’t need them,” he stated, whereas citing the examples of Ashoke Dinda and Smit Patel, who’ve performed for the State as professionals.

Asnodkar, who led Goa and in addition made a reputation for himself within the preliminary editions of the Indian Premier League, alluded to an analogous lack of starvation amongst Goan cricketers when referring to the State’s empty trophy cupboard. “Talent is there, but the challenge is to nurture it. Players need to give their whole heart and not just rely on the association to provide the facilities. When we played, there wasn’t much exposure or facility, but the hunger was there. The hunger is dying. Maybe because they are being spoonfed… Once you fool around with this game, the game fools around with you. The biggest spoiler for any cricketer today is the mobile,” he stated. 

The Conclave was held in affiliation with Hero We Care, a Hero Motocorp CSR Initiative, Goa Tourism, Indian Oil, Geno Sports Club, KSG India, State Bank of India, KPMG, Great SportsTech, Casagrand, and NewsX. It could be watched on Sportstar’s YouTube channel.