Dubai: Tushar Arothe, the coach of the India women’s team who guided the team to the final of the recent ICC Women’s World Cup, is delighted at the increasing response towards women’s cricket in India.
Speaking to Gulf News on how has been the response from the cricket lovers in India, Arothe said: “Expectations of the team are pretty high now. There is a lot more pressure. There is no fun without any pressure. So I like to take the challenge but at the same time I will not take away the credit from the girls what they did during the World Cup.”
India had stunned all top teams to reach the final before losing to hosts England, despite being in a strong position in the final.
“Before the World Cup we went to South Africa where the girls did very well,” said Arothe, who transformed the team into a wining unit. “We won the tournament there beating South Africa. So I was pretty confident that if we put runs on the board, we will definitely do well in the World Cup.”
Arothe said the World Cup performance has resulted in the women’s team on the verge of getting more exposure.
“We are getting excellent support from BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India], they are promoting women’s cricket in a big way,” he said. “They have started the India ‘A’ team, which is the bench strength for the senior team. Bangladesh are coming to India to play against ‘A’ team soon. In January India will be in South Africa for the World Championship and then in March-April the Australia and England teams are coming to India. So there is going to be a lot of women’s cricket.”
Arothe feels the future of women’s cricket looks bright. “Many girls are taking up cricket,” he added. “We get many calls wanting to join clubs or association. One person in Baroda came and told me he would like to give his ground exclusively for women’s cricket. Though he wanted me to run the academy as I am with the BCCI I had to turn down the offer. Women’s cricket is financially rewarding and girls can make a career out of it now.”
