"You have come a long way, baby" ran the well known Virginia Slims ads some years ago. Well, women's cricket in India has certainly come a long way from the hesitant and uncertain beginnings in the early seventies.

I well remember the early days of women's cricket in India. It was 1973 and I was a sports reporter with the Indian Express in Madras. A cricketing friend of mine MK Mohan, who was good enough to represent the State junior team, tipped me off that there were a few girls having net sessions every morning at the Gandhinagar club, the team he played for in the senior division league. A newsman's curiousity was aroused and I dashed off one morning to see a rather novel scene. Indeed, there were a few teenage girls batting, bowling and fielding with Mohan present to give them a few valuable tips.

The first thing that attracted my attention was the keenness and enthusiasm showed by the girls. This effervescent quality more than made up for any obvious technical shortcomings. After all, they had received no coaching at all and had taken to the game not for any monetary rewards but in a spirit of adventure and eager to make good. Also they must have gone against two of the traditional obstacles to such pursuits - a male chauvanistic attitude and parental objection. After all, they were the pioneers and had no one but their woman counterparts in England and Australia to look to for inspiration.

I remember some of the players very well - Sudha Shah and her sister Meena Shah, Susan Itticheria, Fowziah Khaleeli, Sumathi Iyer. Within a year or so, Sudha, Fowziah and Susan were representing India in the early `Test' matches against Australia. By this time, the Women's Cricket Association of India had been formed and had several state associations affiliated to it and by the mid 70s, women's cricket in India had taken off.

But it took considerable time for women's cricket to be accepted. They received little support from their men counterparts who were quick to term women taking to the game as ``a bad joke'' and other condescending sentiments. For many years, the main grounds at the major venues were off limits to the ladies. There was no question of sponsorship and the players and the administrators had to run around to obtain finance to conduct tournaments. Thus it took a long time for women's cricket in India to be put on a firm footing.

But slowly over the years, recognition came the women's way. They finally got persmission to play on grounds such as the Eden Gardens, MAC stadium, Wankhede stadium and Feroz Shah Kotla. Sponsors were more forthcoming and big time tournaments, including the World Cup, were held in India. The standard too was improving with some of the leading players running up records that stood the test of time while the organisation was put on a sound footing thanks to the efforts of selfless and dynamic administrators. Regular tours were organised to and from India and by the 90s, women's cricket in India wore a much healthier look.

While there was never any chance of any woman cricketer matching the status or the adulation accorded to the leading men players, the top players did get rewards directly associated with their performances on the field - good jobs, a grudging recognition from their male counterparts and even Arjuna awards. Shanta Rangaswamy, who was the dominant figure for long in the pioneering days of women's cricket was the first recipient of the Arjuna award and this was a tremendous boost for the game. Shanta's feats did much to attract attention and even the men started taking notice when the tall, well built woman, a bank officer by profession, took the field. Over the years, Srirupa Bose, Gargi Banerjee, Shubangi Kulkarni, Diana Eduljee, Sandhya Agarwal and others helped women's cricket to gain in popularity. And as we start the new millennium there is little doubt that women's cricket in India is poised for a giant leap.

© CricInfo