Twitter outrage over the lack of coverage for South Africa vs India Women ODI series
The BCCI failed to give attention to the Women’s Team because the broadcasting rights of every other tournament and series for the Men’s team is decided months in advance.
During the Women’s World Cup in June last year, cricket viewers across India realized that the Women’s team also deserved the attention and audience that the Men’s team got. The Mithali Raj-led Indian side reached the finals of World Cup 2017 and missed out on winning the maiden title by a whisker. The coverage was huge as it became the most widely watched final in the history of the tournament. However, the team did not play a single ODI since that last ODI they played in 2017 on June 23.
After a big gap of 226 days, Team India headed for the Tour of South Africa, but there is no telecast or live streaming on any of the channels. It was expected after their major success in the World Cup that broadcasters and the BCCI alike would give them the focus that was missing for years. However, while the Indian Men vs South African Men series is being telecast in two languages in the Indian subcontinent, the coverage on the women’s tour is neglected.
It is also to be noted that while the BCCI posts videos and pictures of the live matches of the men on a regular basis so much so that Twitter account is filled with updates of the match, the BCCI Women Twitter account gets updates in an interval of 10-15 overs. That, in contrast to Cricket South Africa’s real-time and more frequent updates, ended up in bad taste for many on Twitter.
In fact, even the Women’s Challengers Trophy was telecast on Star Sports and streamed on Hotstar. Sony LIV also broadcasts Women’s Big Bash League in the Indian country. Countries like England and Australia telecast every international fixture of their women cricketers but the BCCI has failed to prioritize Women’s cricket even now.
In defense of the whole outrage sparked on Twitter regarding the ignorance of the BCCI, a media representative from BCCI said, “BCCI does not have the rights for the matches that are played outside India,” as reported by The Field. However, that only cements the notion that the BCCI has failed to give attention to the Women’s Team because the broadcasting rights of every other tournament and series for the Men’s team is decided months in advance.
Here are the tweets:
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