Women now enjoy cricket as much as men do

IT IS a popular cliché that women and cricket do not get along. But, it is no more the truth because women now get along really well with cricket and they can be seen enjoying the game as much as their male counterparts. 

 

They too love cricket like men do. And, it is not just actresses like Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty, who are involved with cricket but the college going girls too. Throughout the World Cup matches, whenever India had a match, colleges across Delhi bore a deserted look. Much to ones disbelief, similar was the sight in girls’ college.

 

In the group round, most of India’s matches were on Sundays therefore nobody knew how excited the girls were initially in the tournament. However as India proceeded in the championship the World Cup fever also began to rise among them. Outside the classes and inside the canteen, cricket was the hottest topic for discussion or gossip.

 

“I love Dhoni”, “Daniel Vettori is so cute”, ‘I am crazy for Bret lee” are lines nobody can miss hearing when passing Nescafe outlets or canteens in colleges.

 

The most interesting sight was on the mornings of March 30 and April 2, i.e the day of semifinal and final, when many girls had painted their cheeks with the colours of the Indian National Flag. It was a gesture to express their support, love and excitement, or maybe madness for the sport which is everything but a sport for Indians.

 

Since the quarter-final match between Australia and India all the teachers knew where their students would be. Some girls chose to sit at home and wait for the match. Some chose to attend the morning lectures and leave as soon as possible. It was a clear choice, Matches over classes.

 

Even the section of working women didn’t miss the action when the Indian cricket team was making history. In fact many of them were speaking to radio channels about the excuses, which they planned to tell their bosses so that they could get a holiday on the day of semifinal and final.

 

Women have emerged as the new ‘Crazy for Cricket’ section of population. They are deeply into their newfound love. And, hopefully this bond will get stronger with the current IPL season.