Why Visibility Is Not Valuation For Women Cricket?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe recent five-wicket win against Australia was not just a victory on paper. It was a display of grit, composure, and individual brilliance under pressure. Fans on social media were quick to draw analogies with the men\u2019s team, deepening the emotion, as though women\u2019s cricket must always be justified through comparison.<\/p>\n
There is no denying that change is underway. Women\u2019s cricket is more visible today than at any point in India\u2019s sporting history. Stadium screens broadcast their games, social media amplifies their moments, and the Women\u2019s Premier League (WPL) has finally carved out room in the crowded Indian cricket calendar.<\/p>\n
The Women\u2019s Premier League (WPL), launched in 2023, has shown extraordinary early growth. The first season recorded 50 million viewers in its first 14 matches. That figure leapt to 103 million during the same period in the 2024 edition on television alone. By 2025, the opening game of the WPL drew 30 million live viewers on TV, with a total reach nearing 300 million. This is not fringe engagement. This is widespread attention. Even more notably, digital platforms report users engaging for over 50 minutes per match, suggesting that viewership is not just passive but deeply involved.<\/p>\n
The global appetite tells a similar story. The 2023 ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup in South Africa attracted 254 million viewers worldwide \u2014 a staggering 57 per cent increase from its previous edition. In India, Google search interest for women\u2019s cricket more than doubled in late 2023. These are signs that the landscape is evolving beyond momentary curiosity.<\/p>\n
And yet, contrast this with the figures from the men\u2019s 2025 World Cup. It amassed a total watch time of approximately 250 billion minutes. The India vs New Zealand final alone pulled in over 180 million viewers across TV and digital platforms combined. These are numbers still beyond the horizon for women\u2019s cricket.<\/p>\n
Why Does The Hype Still Feel Temporary?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe ease with which women\u2019s cricket now trends on social media post-victory is a pleasant reversal. Whether it is Harmanpreet Kaur\u2019s ice cool finish or Jemimah Rodrigues breaking down on camera over her long journey back to squad selection, there is raw energy in the stories being told.<\/p>\n
And yet, this new engagement sometimes feels season-based, like a summer romance with the sport. High on passion in the moment, but once the tournament ends and the hashtags stop auto-playing.<\/p>\n
Emotional Labour of Breaking Into a Space Not Built for You<\/strong><\/p>\nJemimah\u2019s own words reveal more than a press meet ever could. She talked openly about her anxiety. About being dropped. About thinking she might not make it back. Those are the emotions of people who have to prove themselves more than once, just to even be seen.<\/p>\n
Even after the success of the WPL, most women cricketers still fall short on brand visibility and long-term commercial endorsements. A few like Smriti Mandhana or Harmanpreet Kaur rise to national consciousness, but only in the short bursts of relevance that tournaments afford.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur has spent much of the past decade being both captain and spokesperson for women\u2019s cricket, fielding unspoken questions about \u201cstandards\u201d, \u201cviewability\u201d, \u201cfan value\u201d. Hers is a career that seems to be built in the shadow of expectations that rarely fall on a man\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n
Are Women in Cricket Not Yet Fully Accepted?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt is undeniable that progress has been made. Sponsorships, viewership and salaries are slowly inching toward a semblance of parity. And yet, a gap remains. Not in numbers alone, but in the psyche of a nation that has always seen cricket as a man\u2019s domain.<\/p>\n
It is why even today, the first reaction to a great women\u2019s match is often surprise. \u201cWow, that finish was crazy\u201d very quickly becomes \u201cActually, women\u2019s cricket is pretty exciting too.\u201d The need to still be convinced speaks volumes.<\/p>\n
Watching vs Valuing: Where Does India Stand on Women\u2019s Cricket?<\/strong><\/p>\nThere is a difference between watching and valuing. India has begun watching women\u2019s cricket. The data surely proves this but are we valuing it with the same emotional and financial investment that we routinely extend to the men\u2019s game?<\/p>\n
Our sporting culture has not fully adapted to the idea that women cricketers are not just symbols of gender progress but athletes in their own right \u2014 deserving of lifelong careers, financial security, media conversations, and cultural embedding.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s cricket is not just a reactionary event to nationalistic pride. It is a narrative in motion, spanning grassroots training, infrastructure, crowds, and conversations in school corridors across the country especially for girls who wear their brother\u2019s oversized cricket gloves and dream of something beyond what they see in newspaper cuttings.<\/p>\n
What would true change look like? It would look like girls in Bihar, Manipur, or Goa no longer having to explain why they want to play cricket. Real support comes with an emotional investment, not just in the results, but in the stories. It shows up in ticket sales, in merchandise racks, in grassroots training spaces for young girls who believe they can be the next Smriti, the next Deepti, the next Shafali and knowing the stadium will not be half empty.<\/p>\n
It would look like Jemimah talking openly about her anxiety and that conversation becoming a part of sports media with a human interest, not a one-day trend.<\/p>\n
The Final Over<\/strong><\/p>\nIndia is set to play South Africa tomorrow in Mumbai for the ICC Women\u2019s World Cup. Whether or not it becomes a historic day depends on what we do in the slow season after \u2013 when there is no trophy in the frame, no viral reel, no headline under the lights.<\/p>\n
The last ball has not yet been bowled in the story of women\u2019s cricket in India. And if cricket is India\u2019s national emotion, it is time to gave it space to include all its storytellers equally as cricketers.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s cricket is not waiting for validation anymore. The players are winning, the leagues are growing, the viewership is rising but before you celebrate those women as national heroes tomorrow the question to ask remains, are we really witnessing the game, or quietly clapping from behind a glass wall?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
![\"img\"](\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/dlxczavtqcctuei\/news18\/static\/images\/english\/goldenicon.svg\")
<\/div>\n