Disha Singh (22), from Morena in the Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh, is often mistaken for a boy in her neighbourhood. She keeps her hair cropped short, rides a bike and wears T-shirts and cargos, openly defying the unwritten code of conduct for women in the region.
Unlike her peers, Disha refuses to conform to societal norms and fiercely values her independence – a decision that also underpins her refusal to get married in a rush. Instead, she dreams of making it big as a cricketer.
In Morena, however, such behaviour is viewed as eccentric and dismissed with derision. Situated at the trijunction of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the district has failed to keep pace with other parts of India in development and progress.
Morena ranks low on several human development indices, including sex ratio. Over the years, much has changed; what has remained constant, however, are patriarchy-enforced norms for women. Child marriage and early marriage are still practised, and women’s education is often ignored or actively discouraged.
Adding to its notoriety, Morena has long been dubbed India’s Wild West due to its association with dakaits (dacoits) until the 1980s.
As the great-granddaughter of Dongar Sikarwar, one of the most feared baaghis – as dacoits preferred to call themselves – Disha commands a mix of fear and deference. This dark legacy acts as a shield, protecting her in subtle ways. Having baaghi blood offers her a rare form of insulation from the inherent disadvantages of being a woman in the region.
Yet this lineage has failed to shield her from societal opprobrium – not for her appearance or attitude, but for her obsession with cricket and her aspiration to become a cricketer.
Unlike most girls her age, Disha is relatively privileged. A supportive mother and her family’s stable financial condition place her in a position to pursue her ambitions. However, the entrenched patriarchy of Morena has indirectly and effectively brought her cricketing journey to a standstill.
While there is evidence of women playing cricket in smaller towns such as Kolar, Prayagraj, Darjeeling and Mahabaleshwar in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women’s cricket in India flourished in a more structured manner largely in the 20th century, primarily in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad.
The earliest known annual tournament dates back to the 1930s in Mumbai, followed by events across Delhi in the 1950s and 1960s. Ad hoc tournaments were also organised elsewhere, particularly in regions with significant British populations or army cantonments.
The first women’s inter-state nationals were held in Pune in April 1973, with three teams – Mumbai, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh – participating. The second edition featured eight teams, and by the third championship, the number had risen to 14.
The Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) was established in 1973 and became a member of the International Women’s Cricket Council. It provided a formal framework for the sport until its merger with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2006.
Women’s cricket – much like the men’s game – remained dominated by players from a few cities until the late 2000s. By 2020, however, the senior Indian women’s team included Sangli’s Smriti Mandhana, Rohtak’s Shafali Verma, Moga’s Harmanpreet Kaur, Bijapur’s Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Agra’s Poonam Yadav. In the years that followed, players such as Parsa’s Renuka Thakur, Yerramala Palle’s Sree Charani, Ghuwara’s Kranti Goud and Choyimoola’s Minnu Mani joined their ranks. While not exhaustive, this list reflects the evolving player profile in Indian women’s cricket.
As Disha’s ambitions were taking root in Chambal, similar dreams were sprouting across the country through the 2010s. But dreaming of a sport like cricket is not easy.
Consider the case of Archana Devi (20), from Ratai Purva village in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district. Archana lost her father to cancer when she was young. Tragedy struck again when her younger brother, Buddhiman, died from a snakebite. The family survived on the income earned by her mother, Savitri, through farm labour and animal husbandry.
Yet Savitri ensured Archana pursued her cricketing dreams. Beyond passion, there was a deeply personal reason. As Buddhiman lay battling for life, he made Savitri promise that Archana would be allowed to play cricket.
Savitri kept that promise. She enrolled the 14-year-old Archana at Kasturba Gandhi Awasiya Balika Vidyalaya, an all-girls residential school in Ganj Moradabad, about 15 km from Ratai Purva, to give her access to better training.
The decision provoked backlash. What began as whispers soon snowballed, and Savitri was branded a dayan (witch). “People blamed me for the deaths of my husband and son and called me a dayan. They called our hut the witch’s house and even avoided the sight of me,” Savitri recalls. The social boycott continued until Archana achieved recognition as a cricketer.
When India faced England in the final of the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup at Senwes Park in South Africa in January 2023, a sizeable crowd gathered outside Archana’s home to watch the match on television.
In a region where uninterrupted power supply remains a luxury, local police installed an inverter so the match could be watched without interruption.
India won the final, claiming the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup – the first World Cup title for Indian women at any level. For Archana, it was not only a national triumph but a deeply personal one.
A similar story played out in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, barely 600 km from Disha’s hometown. Nestled in a rugged landscape dotted with coal mines and dense forest cover, the tribal district of Shahdol has a female literacy rate as low as 56.99% and an annual per capita income of only Rs 90,316 (2019-20).
Despite prevailing financial challenges and conservatism, Pooja Vastrakar had it slightly easier. Her father worked with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, and she grew up in a colony where boys and girls played together. Playing with boys helped sharpen her cricketing skills.
Even so, she was the only girl in the town playing cricket. When the district decided to field a women’s team, the coach had to cobble together players from kabaddi and basketball.
“When I was growing up, people were extremely narrow-minded about women playing sports,” Pooja recalls. “They believed girls weren’t capable of doing anything worthwhile. There was a girl near my house who loved basketball, but her father wouldn’t let her go on tours.”
Like Disha and Archana, Pooja had familial support, which ensured her talent did not go to waste. She rose swiftly through the ranks and made her India debut in 2018.
When she returned to Shahdol, she was celebrated as a hometown hero. Hoardings were erected, banners unfurled and mindsets began to shift.
“Now parents come home with their daughters and say they want them to play sports,” Pooja says. “Some even bring five-year-old girls, and I have to discourage them from starting so early.”
Rewa Division, which Pooja represents, is now one of the strongest women’s teams in Madhya Pradesh. Nearly 50 women cricketers registered for the state championships in 2023–24.
Even as such examples of change are visible in rural centres, overall, sports participation for women in India remains relatively low. A comprehensive BBC study published in 2020 found that 42% of men in India engaged in sports or physical activity, compared to just 29% of women. Participation was highest in Tamil Nadu (54%) and Maharashtra (53%) and lowest in northern states such as Punjab and Haryana (15%).
Other research confirms significant gender disparities in youth sports participation. Boys are more likely to participate in sports than girls. This is not unique to India. In the US, by age 14, girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys, primarily due to social expectations.
In India, the most commonly reported barrier to girls’ participation is cultural norms and gender stereotypes. The BBC study found that 37% of respondents felt female athletes did not appear “feminine enough”, while 38% believed women’s sports were less entertaining than men’s. More than a third considered women unsuitable for one or more sports due to safety concerns, perceived physical limitations or menstruation.
Kabaddi, boxing, weightlifting, wrestling and motorsports were among the sports deemed “unsuitable” for women, though kabaddi shows less gender disparity than cricket in participation.
A survey of over 350 domestic women cricketers conducted as part of the 2021 Equal Hue project revealed that 20% had been discouraged by immediate family members from playing, while 33% cited neighbours or extended family. If one in three state-level players faced social discouragement, the report concluded, countless others never made it to the field at all.
Excerpted with permission from Chasing Like Dhoni: Exploring The Underbelly Of Indian Cricket, Aayush Puthran and Samod, Penguin India.
