Commonwealth Games this time and the fans are waiting to see what it's like for the players to compete for medals and not a trophy. India is in Group A with Australia, Pakistan an Barbados. The highly anticipated India vs Pakistan match is scheduled to be played on July 31 in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Former India captain Anjum Chopra was a guest on Times of India's sports podcast Sportscast recently an talked about the debut of women's cricket at the CWG, the current Indian women's T20 squad, Harmanpreet Kaur the captain, what it is like to play cricket for medals and not trophies and more. The following are excerpts of the chat with Anjum Chopra on TOI Sportscast: On how big a shot in the arm it is for women's cricket to be included in the commonwealth Games...'It is important. At the end of the day when you have cricket trying to reach a global stage, when you have more and more nations starting to play cricket - so one is that angle.
Even if it isn't the men's team playing, it's the women's team that's playing. All the nations that participate in the WC - the top 12 to 14 teams - most of them will be in the Commonwealth. So, you are showcasing the sport in totality, even if it's via the CWG, at least you are showcasing the sport.
So, that is a very important factor going ahead looking at the growth of women's cricket globally or the growth of cricket globally, more than (going beyond) the nations that are already playing the sport. For women's cricket, six months down the line there will be a WC coming up in the T20 format (in SA) and this (CWG) helps every nation (which is participating) to build a team. Also, the more competitive cricket that the girls play, it will always help.
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