Dubai: Former Indian women’s cricket team captain Anjum Chopra had played a big role in lifting the profile of women’s cricket in India through her consistent performance for 17 years. Chopra had shown the way for the new generation inspiring even some of the players in the present Indian team as skipper of the squad.
Taking up cricket at the age of nine, when many thought cricket wasn’t meant for women, she went on to play in six World Cups (four 50 overs and two T20 World Cups). Today she is among the few women cricket commentators plying her trade across the world.
Chopra, who arrived in Dubai as commentator for the ICC World Cricket League matches soon after two gates at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium in Delhi, were named after her for her contribution to cricket, spoke at length to Gulf News on a range of subjects, including the recent adulation of the women’s team after their stirring performance in the Women’s World Cup earlier this year. Excerpts:
- Anjum Chopra » Former Indian captain
How does it feel to have two gates named after you in an international stadium like Delhi’s Ferozshah Kotla?
It feels very humbling to receive the honour. To have a gate named after you in an iconic and one of the oldest cricket stadiums in the capital is special. There are somethings that you can’t express in words in any language as it wouldn’t do justice to it. When people come to watch cricket and people acknowledging your contribution to cricket is special.
How did you get into cricket especially at a time when women hardly took up the sport?
I was always interested in sport. My parents are very keen sports people and they put my brother and me into sports. My maternal grandfather Ved Sahni was a cricket commentator and Commonwealth Games athlete. My mother was into car rally and my dad a golfer and my mother’s younger brother Rohit Sahni was a very good wicketkeeper-opening bat. My elder brother used to play under-17 and under-19 cricket and so there was sport in the family.
How was the response when you took up cricket as it wasn’t popular among women?
For nearly a decade many people asked me why am I wasting time in cricket saying that women don’t play cricket. Many even advised me that if I want to play a sport I should play badminton or tennis as they are individual games.
So what is it that stops women from taking cricket?
I think the very fact that women and cricket are not seen synonymous to each other. We know cricket was started by women and they played it before the men. Lord WG Grace’s mother Martha Grace was the first player to coach him. Everything is there but now everything is changing and improving but there is still need for awareness. The trend that women should only be playing badminton or tennis must change but also other sports should be accepted.
How did you go about achieving success despite all these criticism and trend?
I always kept lifting the bar. When I was playing under-15 I wanted to be the best player in the 15 and I aspired to get into the under-19 squad. When I got into under-19 my target was that I wanted to be the best player in Under-19 and captain Delhi. So there was a time when I was captaining Delhi under-15 and under-19 teams together. I set the bar for myself. So when I got into the Indian team my target was to get into the first XI and my bar kept changing. It was a constant progression.
Did you have any women cricketers as idols or you preferred a male cricketer as an idol?
My brother used to follow David Gower and so I used to follow my brother. I too watched Gower on TV and being a left-hander myself liked Gower’s batting style. I used to watch Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan. I always used to fancy Bevan’s running between the wickets.
Does women’s cricket too need an Indian Premier League (IPL) for the game to get more popular?
I want an IPL to happen for women but when we say IPL, we need to understand what IPL is for women. If you say an IPL for glamour we don’t require glamour right now because what we need is more matches. Glamour will then come automatically. We need more international matches for our women players especially for the Indian team. Since July 23 after the World Cup there hasn’t been domestic or international cricket for them. Four or five months of no cricket and living on past glory is not what a player would want because you are losing five months of your prime time. We cannot waste weeks and months of no action. Only when they continue to play they will make mistakes and improve. If five to ten of months of no cricket happens, the momentum goes and the fitness will also be hit.
How happy are you to see Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami inspiring the new generation?
Jhulan made her debut under me in international cricket and Mithali is only a few years junior to me. It is nice they are still playing and they are able to guide the youngsters around. Jhulan and I used spend a lot of time together as she used to play for my domestic team Air India. When I was a youngster, I was backed by lot of people. Even if I was backed by only two people who believed that I could actually and go out there and deliver for my country one fine day it is great. Some seniors had also seen something in me and backed me so as a senior to Jhulan I thought I should also back her because If I am the captain and I knew if don’t back her nobody else would. She is four years younger to me but I have backed her completely and it is nice that she has become one of the top bowlers in the world of cricket today. It is just passing on the baton.
Somebody passed on the baton to me and I have passed on to them and I hope they pass it to on to the next generation. You cannot break that chain.
