Male centric context and history of cricket in India

This literature review explores the male centric context and history of cricket in India, from its introduction by the British colonial masters to the present day. It discusses the challenges faced by women cricketers and the marginalization they experience in the sport. The review also examines the representation of women in traditional media and the media coverage of female cricket in India.

Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
LITERATURE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Literature review
Male centric context and history of cricket in India
The sport of cricket is not something which is indigenous to India, it was introduced in
the nation by the colonial masters from Britain, the place where the sport had actually originated.
Cricket was right from its outset a very male centric game and was the sole prerogative of the
men. The same traditional legacy of the colonial masters was also upheld by the colonized
Indians as well. The same logic of cricket being a sport of the males is also applicable in the
context of the contemporary times as well when very few people actually follow the cricket of
the women team and the very mention of the sport cricket is synonymous to the Indian Cricket
Team consisting of male players only [1]. That is the scenario of the Indian cricket at the national
level. Cricket is not just a game, it is like a religion in the Indian context where even the children
for the purpose of keeping themselves entertained play cricket at the lanes and by-lanes and the
playgrounds of the country for leisure purposes. It is very unlikely to spot a girl playing cricket,
until and unless the arena is a sports club providing coaching to the girls, even that is a rare sight
compared to the cricket clubs meant for the boys. In the contemporary times, the women have a
separate team of their own in India playing at the national and at the international level, but there
are hardly, rather no award or trophy named after any notable pioneering woman from the sport
of cricket, all of them are named after men [15].
Cricket made its way to India in the early decades of the 1700s when India was colonized
by the Britishers and the first cricket match was played in the year 1721. It was from the 19th
century that cricket had gained much currency when the culture of organization of the sport into
a professional one had begun. It was a paradigmatic shift in the history of Indian cricket when

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the sport had transformed itself from being just a casual sport meant for leisure purposes only. In
the year 1848, the Parsi community of the province of Bombay had laid the foundation of the
first cricket club of India, named as the Oriental Cricket Club [17]. Seeing the enthusiasm and
the interest the Parsi community took in the game, they were urged by the Britishers to play a
cricket match in the year 1877. Only the males were a part of the achievements and the game. In
the year 1912, cricket as a sport had begun to be played by all communities, the hindus and the
muslims apart from the Parsis, who played quadrangular tournaments with the Europeans, and
from there some of the most notable cricket players had emerged whose legacies have been kept
alive even today [5]. Two personalities, Ranjit Singh Ji and Duleep Singh Ji had received much
appreciation from the Britishers and two of the major trophies Ranji Trophy and the Duleep
trophy have been named after them. Sir Ranjit Singh Ji Vibhaji Jadeja, who used to be the ruler
of the erstwhile Princely State of Nawabnagar is also considered as the Father of Indian Cricket.
During the period of the colonialism, Indian team as an independent team did not exist, as India
was not a sovereign nation. It was only after India got independence from the yokes of
colonialism that an independent Indian cricket team was formed. Even in the post colonial
period, the mainstream cricket has by and large been a male centric affair and the cricket team of
the women cannot match up to that of the men in the present context [4].
History of the entry of women into the field of cricket
As it is evident that the entry of women into cricket had happened much after that of the
men, it was only on the year 1973, after the passage of several years from the year of
independence that the women’s team was formed. It was only in the year 1976 that the Indian
Women’s team had played its first ever test match, and the first recorded victory of the Indian
cricket team of India was in the year 1978. India had won the test series against West Indies

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under the captaincy of Shantha Rangaswamy [2]. The first women’s cricket world cup was
organized in the year 1973 and only five nations had participated in it, England, Australia, New
Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. India had participated in the women’s cricket world
cup in the year 1978, the second time it was organized and had also been the nation to host the
sport. The first captain of the Indian Cricket team was Diana Edulji who had served as the
captain for continuous three years from 1978 to 1981 [14]. She is accolade as a brave personality
who had fought her way through the quagmire of traditions and prejudices against the women in
the society. She had begun her journey into the field of cricket in the year 1975with her entry
into the innings. Before relenting to her calling for cricket, Edulji had tried her hands at
basketball and table tennis. She had trained herself from a very young age by practicing cricket
with a tennis ball in the narrow lanes of Mumbai railway colony where she lived. The current
captain of the Indian cricket team is Mithali Raj [11]. It was under her captaincy the Indian team
had made its way to the Women’s World Cup Finals that had taken place in South Africa in the
year 2005. It was also under her leadership that the Indian team had won the test series in
England. She has created history by breaking the record of Karen Rolton as the world’s highest
individual Test score, which was 209 [12]. Mithali Raj had broken the record by scoring a
214 against England in the second and final Test at the County Ground of Taunton. Apart from
that, she is also a Padma Shri and Arjuna Award winner. However, the concept of having the
mother of cricket or having an award named after a woman personality from the field of cricket
is absent [13].
India and Feminism with specific reference to the sport of cricket
While women have excelled in other sports such as table tennis and boxing, creating a
space for themselves in cricket still is a challenge and the tough competition which the women

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cricketers face from the cricket team of the men in terms of reaching up to the same level of
fame and glory as that of the men. The feminist movement in India had taken place for the first
time in the 1900s when the country had not yet been freed from the yokes of colonialism and the
agitation by the women have been for the suffrage rights to be given to them. In the post colonial
period, the personal issue which were bothering the women folks such as pay disparity, domestic
violence, and dowry issues were brought to the political forefront [7]. The feminist movement in
general in India had followed the incremental approach and with the passage of time, newer
issues have been incorporated thereby strengthening the feminist movement. The field of sports
is also an arena whereby feminism has sought to provide a solution to the issues faced by the
sportswomen. The greatest and the most pressing issue has been the marginalization of the
sportswomen compared to the sportsmen. The marginalization of women in sports is something
which is embedded in the culture of the nation [10].
In common parlance, the sport of cricket in the Indian context is essentially a game of the
men, though in the contemporary period, the women are also into the sport and they have a
separate team dedicated to them. However, the name and fame and all the glamour quotient that
one could take as result of being a cricketer is taken majorly by the male cricketers while the
achievements of the women cricketers hardly come to the forefront of new headlines [9]. The
marginalization of the women cricketers is not something which is typical to India, it is a global
phenomenon and the male cricketers are the only celebrated cricketers. The scenario prevalent on
the global sphere with regard to the sport of cricket is also felt in the scenario of the Indian
Cricket as well, something which is inevitable. However that is not the only reason why the
women cricketers of India have faced marginalization against their male counterparts. Apart
from these, the issue of pay disparity and less developed facilities provided to the female

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sportspersons are a big issue in India. Some sports get more leverage than the others, like cricket
is the most celebrated sport in India while sports like hockey are neglected. Cricket despite being
a celebrated sport much of the benefits are reserved for the male cricketers and the female
cricketers are not given much attention. Feminists have raised this issue, and a lot of
development is needed to make the situation for the sportswomen better [3].
Traditional Media Representation of women in India
India being a patriarchal and conservative society, the women are preferred to abide by
the traditional roles of being the nurturer, child producers, care givers and home makers. Sports
is something which is still not considered as the role which the women are supposed to take up,
though the nation has produced outstanding sportswomen who have brought laurels for the
nation, in not just cricket, but other sports as well [16]. For example, Saina Nehwal from
badminton, Sania Mirza from tennis, Mary Kom from boxing, Geeta and Baita Phogat from
wrestling, PT Usha from running et cetera. The Indian media is however more enthusiastic about
the personal lives and the scandals which affect the lives of the female celebrities. For example,
the media coverage of Sania Mirza’s wedding to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik had received
much hype something which her achievements did not receive [6]. She had also become the
centre of controversy for wearing short dresses while playing as that has been considered as
unislamic by the conservative mullahs. Moral policing is something which even celebrities of
her stature has not been able to escape. The idea that the role of women is to cater to the erotic
fantasies of the men is however not yet been obliterated. One can see that the female
cheerleaders are an essential element in the male sports and especially cricket. The camera
focuses specially on the body movements and the body contours of the skimpily cladded
cheerleaders whose sole purpose is to increase the glamour quotient of the game. Ironically, the

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concept of having cheerleaders in the female cricket matches is absent. This double standard and
hypocrisy of the Indian society is something which is rampant [8].
Media Coverage and Representation of female sport in India
The media coverage of the female cricket matches are not that much as compared to that
of the males for obvious reasons as the female cricket team is not as celebrated and accomplished
at the national or at the international level. The advertisement agencies showcase less of female
sportstars as compared to the male sportstars. When the season of cricket world cup and the
Indian Premier League comes which are essentially male centric exclusively, one can witness the
number of advertisements endorsing the matches and the male cricketers endorsing products can
be seen in Indian televisions throughout the year [8]. However on the flip side, there has hardly
been any endorsement by any female cricketer while almost all the male cricketers have featured
in some advertisement or the other. It is not that no female sportstar of India has featured in any
advertisement, as there have been advertisements wherein Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza and Mary
Kom have featured. There have been biopics made on the lives and struggle of the Phogat
Sisters, Geeta and Babita titled Dangal and Mary Kom on the life of Mary Kom. While there
hardly have been any biopic of women cricketers like the biopic of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, titled
M S Dhoni. This shows that the woken cricketers are still marginalized not only vis-à-vis their
male counterparts, but also compared to other sportswomen in other sports. It is indeed quite
unfortunate that despite bringing laurels for the nation, the women cricketers are deprived of the
limelight that they deserve. This is reflective of the inherent sexism that generally prevails in all
aspects of the society. This is not just a loss of the women but also of the society at large [16].

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References
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