The Unsung Hero - Mahendra Kumar Sharma - Who Made Cricket a Reality for Women in India.

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The Unsung Hero - Mahendra Kumar Sharma - Who Made Cricket a Reality for Women in India.

Mahendra Kumar Sharma, one of the pioneers of women's cricket in India, died in Pune on Tuesday (November 8). He had been ailing for a while and was in his early 80s.

Sharma leaves behind a rich sporting legacy that he set in stone in 1973 when he registered the Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) under the Societies Act in Lucknow.

Mahendra Kumar Sharma played a pioneering role in the development of women's cricket in India in the 1970s.

The WCAI would be in existence for the next 32 years before BCCI took over the running of the women's game in 2006.

Sharma was a founding secretary of the WCAI for its first five years and was in charge of India's hosting of their first-ever Women's World Cup in 1978 at a time when the governing body largely relied on donations from individuals and the government.

During its existence, the WCAI hosted two Women's World Cups, including a successful 1997 edition where England played Australia in the final in front of nearly 80,000 fans at Eden Gardens.

Introduction Of Women's Cricket.

In the early 1970s, while women were already playing cricket in England, Australia, and New Zealand, it was still a male-dominated sport in India.

It was 1971 when Mahendra Kumar Sharma organized softball and handball games for school and college girls in Lucknow. A couple of years later in 1973, during a national tournament in Hyderabad when some girls showed interest in playing cricket and on feeling the interest, he was keen on creating a cricket association for Indian women.

In the same year, 1973, for girls to play cricket, it was a fight with a mindset above all as people then considered the game for girls as a Western mindset. The lone keen man, Mahendra Kumar Sharma got on a rickshaw and on the microphone announced, "Kanyaon ki cricket hogi, zaroor aaiye" (There will be women's cricket, do come).

He organized a trail game and soon established the Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) in the same year and registered the board under the Societies Act in Lucknow. The first-ever conducted Senior National Women's Championship in Pune and there only were three teams contesting in the tournament, namely; Bombay, Maharashtra, and Pune.

Former India women's allrounder Shubhangi Kulkarni exclaimed that Mr. Sharma set the foundation stone for women's cricket in the Country. His efforts in setting up the WCAI and getting recognition from the world body - International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) - as well as the Indian government was huge at the time.

Shubhangi Kulkarni, who's now a part of the Apex Council in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as representative of the Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA) and when, back in the day, post-retirement took up administration, served as the secretary of WCAI and it was under her reign the highly awaited merge of the WCAI into BCCI took place that's slowly but finally has started to see women cricketers earn equal rewards as their male counterparts.

He was the happiest man when women's cricket finally came into the BCCI umbrella in 2006. Sharma is one of the main reasons behind the existence of women's cricket as it was he who had registered WCAI under the Societies Act in Lucknow in 1973.

While the BCCI took over the running of women's cricket in 2006, it was under the charge of Sharma that India hosted their first Women's World Cup in 1978.

India later hosted another edition in 1997 when England faced Australia in the final at Eden Gardens. Sharma was also instrumental in Indian women playing their first-ever Test in 1976 in Bengaluru.

He organized fundraisers through matches.

One such friendly match combined Bollywood and cricket, with stars like Vinod Khanna in attendance, which was held in Pune in 1975. He even took the team on their first plane ride to meet the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

India then played its first international match in February 1975 when the Australian under-25 team toured India. They played three Tests, in Pune, Delhi and Calcutta.

For these tests, the players were coached by Lala Amarnath, independent India's first test captain. Amarnath chose three captains for the tests, namely Ujjwala Nikam, Sudha Shah, and Sreerupa Bose. India drew all three games, a testament to their talent.

The Women in Blue hosted and played their first World Cup in 1978. Since then, India has reached the final of the Women's World Cup in 2005 and 2017.

Despite all the accolades for the team and players, Sharma has not been recognized for his efforts, much less for creating legendary cricketers.