'It's definitely heading in the right direction' - Virat Kohli on women in sports, societal perception

Cricket has garnered massive popularity as a sport in India. So much so that it has almost become a part of the modern national culture, and that has led to fast-paced growth for women's participation in the game as well. BCCI has played a massive role in growth of female cricket with the introduction of Women's Premier League (WPL), which recently concluded its third edition, and has been receiving widespread attention from the cricket fanatics.

Naturally, a shift has been regarding the perception of women's participation in cricket and a lot of individuals have been highly vocal of the same. Now recently, star cricketer Virat Kohli has also opined his take on how much recognition the athletes of opposite gender are getting. At an event in Bengaluru, Kohli further expressed that the things are moving in the right direction, and an increment in backing is required to take it to the next level.

"They were their own catalysts and kind of put the attention onto them. I literally saw it happening like in a time span of 6-7 years. The way they started playing, you could see that belief, and then people started engaging in that a lot. And eventually, it got to a place where, you know, the commercials became better, money was being infused into the women's game, and then you have the WPL,” Kohli commented at the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit.

Sports culture includes everyone: Kohli

"Looking at men for the improvement of sport in any country, it has to be a collective. Sports culture includes everyone, and women's sport is a massive part of it and we have so much data in women's sports, not just cricket but all the others. We are creating individual activities over the year in tennis, badminton, wrestling, boxing. So, I think it's definitely heading in the right direction, and it needs more backing and more and more infrastructure to be developed," the ace batter added further.

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Speaking of Kohli, he will be concentrating on the upcoming IPL, which will be beginning on March 22. This will be the 18th time he will be representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the upcoming tournament and is still looking for his maiden title. RCB will be facing defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament opener.