While the Indian men’s cricket team is enjoying a competitive series in Australia with crowd attendances, the India women’s cricket team continues to suffer. Their scheduled tour of Australia in January which included three ODIs has been postponed to next year due to the coronavirus concerns. This has prolonged the wait for the Indian women’s cricket team to get back into competitive cricket. In March 2020, the India women’s cricket team entered the final of the ICC World T20 against Australia in Melbourne but they were blown away by the superiority of the Australian team as they lost the match by a big margin. Since then, the coronavirus pandemic has stalled women’s cricket and they have suffered the most.
Apart from England, West Indies, New Zealand and Australia, none of the Asian sides managed to play any games from March till November due to the coronavirus pandemic. India’s tour to England which also involved South Africa was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic . In November, the Indian women’s cricket team, along with several Sri Lankan players and cricketers from nations like Thailand and Bangladesh, were all part of the Women’s T20 challenge that was played in Sharjah during the IPL 2020 playoffs. There were only four games played and that was the only action the Indian women’s cricket team got in nine months.
Addition of three T20Is
Speaking about the development, Cricket Australia interim CEO Nick Hockley said that the tour next season would also involve three T20Is in addition to three ODIs. “We are very hopeful of delivering an expanded schedule between the Australian and Indian women's teams for next season, which would be an outstanding result for fans in both countries. It will be wonderful to once again host the Indian women's team, who were centre stage for that unforgettable ICC T20 World Cup final at the MCG in March, and to do so with an expanded schedule from what was originally planned,” Hockley said.
The latest development is yet another setback for the growth of women’s cricket. When the men’s sides would get tours organised with crowd attendances and bio-bubbles in place, the effort for the women’s sides is not been taken seriously. Apart from Australia, New Zealand, England and West Indies, none of the other Board members have managed to organize series behind closed doors and that is a sad symbol of how women’s cricket has been treated in 2020.
