Pioneer Of Women’s Cricket In India Mahendra Kumar Sharma Passes Away, Here’s All We Know About Him
Women have always had it tougher in our patriarchal world. Even today, inequality is pretty evident. We often see the entire country watching and following men’s cricket like there’s no tomorrow but the same does not apply when it comes to women’s cricket. Most people in our country wouldn’t even be able to name one female cricketer. But the truth is that our women in blue aka our Indian women’s national cricket team has not only represented India on an international level but has also made us proud time and again. And that didn’t happen without the support of people who believed in them. One such person was Mahendra Kumar Sharma. One of the pioneers of women’s cricket in India, Mahendra Kumar Sharma passed away on November 8 in Pune.
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Mahendra Kumar Sharma, the founder secretary of Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) passed away today after a prolonged illness.
Om shanti. 🌼 pic.twitter.com/4wVtVVIyWV
— Tabu bracket is LIVE (@outof22yards) November 8, 2022
Mahendra Kumar Sharma was in his early 80s and had been unwell for a while before he died on November 8. He had been batting for Indian women’s cricket for the longest time and helped our Indian team gain recognition. As we mourn the loss of this man who left behind a rich sporting legacy in the world of cricket and women’s empowerment, let’s take a look at all the things he did to advocate for women’s cricket in India.
– In 1973, Mahendra Kumar Sharma registered the WCAI aka Women’s Cricket Association of India under the Societies Act in Lucknow. WCAI governed women’s cricket for 32 years before the BCCI took over in 2006.
– Being the founding secretary of the WCAI for the first 5 years, Sharma hosted India’s first-ever Women’s World Cup in 1978. During this time, WCAI did not have any funding and solely relied on donations from people and the government. In 32 years of its existence, the WCAI hosted 2 Women’s World Cups.
– It was under his watch that Indian women cricketers played their first-ever Test match in Bengaluru in 1976.
– What started as the first-ever women’s national cricket game in India in 1973 with just 3 teams, under Mahendra Kumar Sharma’s watch, grew to 14 teams over the years.
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Mahendra Kumar Sharma was an advocate for women’s cricket in India and without his support, establishing the grounds for women’s games would not have been easy. As we mourn this loss, we thank him for all he did for women and women’s cricket in India.
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