India's women's team closing the gap on Australia, says WV Raman

For decades, the landscape of women’s international cricket was a story of haves and have-nots. The Indian women’s team, brimming with innate talent, often found themselves on the wrong side of that divide, not for a lack of skill, but for a lack of system. As former India batsman and ex-women’s team coach WV Raman reflects, “The Indian women’s team has really progressed a lot in recent years, especially after coming under the wing of the BCCI. Now they get to play more matches and obviously there are more opportunities. And that has shown in the way they performed.”


He pinpoints the historical gap not to a deficit in ability, but to a chasm in preparation. “Earlier, they were probably not as good in terms of fitness and stuff like the New Zealand or England or the other teams in the past. This is not to say that they were lacking talent-wise. But the problem was lack of experience by way of playing more cricket and maybe lack of facilities to train, or even the knowledge on how to train correctly.”


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This context is crucial to understanding the rise of their ultimate benchmark and toughest opponent: Australia. The Australian women’s team has long been the undisputed powerhouse, a dynasty built on a foundation laid years before others even began to build.

Raman compares their dominance to an iconic era in men’s cricket, stating, “They have had a head start over others...There was something like the West Indies team under Clive Lloyd in the 70s. In the sense that they had the talent, they had a pool of players and they also had the backing of the cricket board and everything was structured well.”

This structural advantage was compounded by a cultural one. “Also, culturally what happens is, in Australia, generally the girls get to go to school and play different sports at a young age which makes them agile and strong. Australia has always had a big advantage over the others in terms of starting things sooner than the rest.”.

For India, catching up meant overhauling an entire ecosystem. The challenge was, and remains, monumental. Raman outlines the scale, explaining, “Australia has six states. But India is a huge country and it has got in excess of 30-odd associations.”

Beyond logistics, there were deep-seated social hurdles. “What used to happen earlier was, culturally it was deemed as rebellious for a woman to say she will play cricket. Now, culturally, we are seeing things differently. There is more awareness. The infrastructure is gradually becoming better.”

He highlights the unique challenges of developing the women’s game, noting, “It is difficult to set up things for girls because they need easy access to infrastructure to travel and practise. You can't send a 14-15-year-old girl on a one and a half hour bus ride like you would for a boy.”

Despite this, he is quick to credit the governing body, “Given these challenges, BCCI has done a tremendous job of ensuring that the girls get to play more cricket. Domestic structure is improving all the time.”

The real game-changers, however, have been strategic investments in the pipeline. Raman reveals, “When I was the coach of the Indian side, we also started the ‘A’ concept for the girls which is still continuing.”

This focus on building depth is now being supercharged by two revolutionary developments. “Two interesting moves have also taken place. One is the Under-19 World Cup, which obviously will push the administrators to create infrastructure and provide more match opportunities for girls below 19. And the other thing which obviously would encourage the parents to put their girls into cricket is the start of Women’s Premier League (WPL).”

The result of this multi-pronged revolution is a dramatic shift in the world order. The team that once struggled for parity is now the one that strikes fear into the heart of the champion. The proof, as they say, is in the pressure.

Raman concludes with a powerful testament to India’s newfound status: “Thanks to the strides they have made recently, Australia is always wary of India. And India has been challenging Australia like no other side has done in the recent past. Australia is aware that if any team can beat them, it is India.”

The journey from rebellious aspiration to credible threat is nearly complete. The final frontier is now well within sight.


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