What we definitely want is equal respect: RCB captain Smriti Mandhana

Women’s cricket has experienced an impressive transformation over the years, with increased viewership, sponsorships, and a growing fan base. One of the key figures in this revolution is India’s star batter and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Women skipper, Smriti Mandhana.

At an event arranged by RCB on Monday, February 03, Mandhana spoke about how women’s cricket has evolved and how the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has played a crucial role in shaping it. The cricketer, who led RCB to their maiden WPL title last year, believes that the success of the tournament has significantly revised the conversations about women’s cricket. The Mumbai-born mentioned how, in her early playing days, stadiums were mostly empty, but now, packed venues show the growing interest in women’s sport.

"From the time we started playing in terms even for the Indian team to having stadiums which were mostly empty to now filling out stadiums wherever we play as an Indian team or with RCB. I think it's just a good, brilliant thing to watch. And, as sports people, sometimes people mis conceptualise thinking that we want equal stuff, I just feel like what we definitely want is equal respect and in the last 5 years women in sport have seen that, people watch us, criticise us, they care about women sports which is great, I think its a journey and more investments of this sort, stakeholders making the right decisions is only paving the way forward for women's sports in India," Mandhana said at the launch of Sports-Forward Nation report, which has laid the roadmap for India to become a sporting country by 2047.

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Sania Mirza became an icon that inspired us: Smriti Mandhana

The 28-year-old also revealed that the growth of women’s sports goes to more than just cricket. She mentioned that Sania Mirza was a sportsperson who brought fresh motivation to the women trying to pursue sports. 

"When I started, I think whenever we say that nowadays, we sound old. But yeah, when we picked up, when I picked up bat and ball, it was more to just do with my brother playing and my father also played at a certain level. So, to see, I wouldn't even talk about women's cricket, I'd just say women's sport evolved. Growing up, I think when I turned 10 and 11, I think the first time we heard of Sania Mirza becoming an icon, and we all knew that, oh wow, there's a girl in sport, and that inspired us," she added.

Meanwhile, the WPL is now entering its third season and is set to be played across four venues from February 14 to March 15. RCB will play the season opener against Gujarat Giants in Vadodara.