Exclusive | Important to give players time to prepare: Anjum Chopra backs Women's WC postponement

It was supposed to be a busy year for the Indian women cricketers following the team's historic march to the World T20 final at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in March. There would have been a Women's IPL following their return home, this time comprising seven games as against four conducted last year. That would have been followed by the Women in Blue looking to get into the ODI groove with the anticipated England tour which would gear them up for the World Cup in New Zealand next year in February. But six months later, it has been an anti-climax by comparison.

The end of July witnessed a lot a talk about the Indian women's cricket team with topics pertaining to the side being overlooked by BCCI after the cancelled England tour, an uncertain future amid the pandemic, and the clash in dates of the T20 Challenger and Women's Big Bash League.

But cricketer-turned-commentator Anjum Chopra, speaking with India TV, explained that women’s matches are being deferred because of “circumstances that are out of our control” (Men’s matches are being deferred too, she said). Having said that, Chopra, in reference to the World Cup postponement, added that in the current scenario, delayed cricket should be preferred to sub-standard cricket, adding that cricketers should get their fair share of time to hone game. It’s not us that have to perform, the onus is on them. It’s only fair that they get time to prepare, she said. Here are some excerpts from the conversation.

Earlier this year, Indian women’s cricket was part of a historic T-20 final, and it was supposed to be a busy year for them. But then tours got cancelled (because of Covid-19) and now they may not play until January. How do you look at this phase?

Well, it’s uncontrollable. Something like this is uncontrollable, so it’s certainly unfortunate that women’s cricket couldn’t continue their uh, nice trend they had lined … the build-up that they had after the World Cup. So it’s unfortunate that Women’s Cricket, in totality, hasn't been able to continue but it’s an, I mean, uncontrollable thing that has happened. And it has happened to men’s cricket as well, I mean all the nations haven’t yet started playing cricket. As a world, we are still battling it (the pandemic) out.

After the England tour got cancelled, there was a lot of talk about it and people said India’s World Cup plan had been hit. So how did you look at that? Was there are a sense of relief at the postponement?

Well, a lot has already been said as to why the England tour got postponed. The ICC has been very specific in mentioning that you know, the preparation for women’s world cup for all the teams has been hampered for obvious reasons. Other than England no other nation has started training yet, so… none of the nations have started preparing for the World Cup, number one. Number two, another important factor is that ICC hasn’t been able to conduct the ICC qualifiers. Apart from the top six teams, another two teams have to qualify through the qualifiers and ICC needs to finish the qualifiers. And keeping the larger interest of everyone, you don't want the standard to drop because of lack of cricket and rustiness. For me, I would have loved to go out there and cover the matches, but at the end of the day, the players also need time to prepare. Because it's the World Cup.

Women's cricket is reaching newer heights each year, and growing with each series. Young talents like Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh are coming up with domestic cricket. Yet why do you think there is "still a lack of communication about women's cricket", as you earlier opined, still prevails?

(Laughs) Well, I don't know why it still exists. The authorities are the ones who are communicating, not me. But, it is not that BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. They are very much aware of the women's game, but probably because of the discussion around IPL and... maybe the communication got lost or delayed or did not come out very clearly. But BCCI President did mention that they are looking at the women's game and are thinking of two series prior to the World Cup - against West Indies and South Africa. My only problem was because it was all about just men's cricket, so the idea was I'm sure the board is thinking to avoid any miscommunication or lack of communication.

Chopra believes that it would be unfair on players to return to competitive action without proper training.

But amid this, IPL GC approved the decision to have the Women's T20 Challenge, in UAE. How important will it be for the players?

Ideally, it should have been seven games. That is what was planned and supposed to happen, but because there were other international leagues happening at the same time making four teams would have been difficult. The board hence decided to go with three teams like last year.

A good decision obviously. Why should women miss out on the Challenger? 

There were a lot of debates about the clash in dates with WBBL. Overseas players had taken to Twitter to express their disappointment. What is your take on that?

Women's IPL hasn't started. Not yet. This is Women's T20 Challenger. This just as an encouragement for the players and the administrators and organisers need to understand when they can have it. Yes, there should be a specified window. But before that, we need to ensure how many players would be available and at what time of the year and then also look at the home calendar. Putting a tournament out there ahead of knowing how many players would be available during a certain time if the year...that homework needs to be done and that requires all the cricketing boards coming in and discussing. Looking forward, I am hopeful that the board will definitely look at having a specified window. But that is when Women's IPL starts. So far, its just Women's T20 Challenger. 

When do you see the Women's IPL happening?

Soon. This is all a progression towards it. We had two teams in 2018, three in 2019 and this year we were supposed to have seven games had got reduced to four. So I feel this is surely a step forward and not a step back. If the steps are going forward, things are shaping up for a bigger tournament. There are steps being taken, you cannot jump straight to a tournament like that. 

Ian Bishop recently talked about "glass ceiling" and "equal respect" while calling for an increased number of women's cricket matches. Why do you think we still need former cricketers and legends to come out a speak of such topics and why can't they come naturally especially after two successful World Cup - 50-over format in 2017 and T20 format in 2020? 

It's still a man's world! Women still have to prove themselves. It's a never-ending discussion. In so many years, there has been talks about women's empowerment, but has there been any talk about men's empowerment? Why do we still talk about gender equality and gender parity? It's not a complaint, it's just a fact. When I was in school we were learning about women's empowerment and gender equality and kids even today are learning about the same. And yes, I agree, we should be given equal opportunity. 

Could you elaborate by giving certain examples from your playing days to commentary on the differences you have noticed?

I used to practice with the men's team. So I don't have anything to complain about that boys are not allowing you to play. Right through my childhood till the last day of my playing career, I played in the men's academy alongside the boys. 

In commentary, I don't have an example to quote. And when I say commentators, I mean men commentators. It is only in the last few years that we have seen the influx of women commentators, regularly rather. The men have been pretty supportive whether it is Ian Bishop or L Sivaramakrishnan or Sunil Gavaskar or Sanjay Manjrekar or Simon Doull, they have been very supportive. 

In totality, the discussion is still on. We are still part of an evolving society when it comes to equal opportunity for women. We still have to specify that we have a lady around. It's a mark of respect, by a 'lady' brings something different to the commentary box or board meeting or corporate world.