Byju's Bengal Women's T20 Blast: A Limelight and hope for the unknowns

Cricket is a religion in India. However, the limelight has been on the men's game from the start. Women's cricket never got the limelight that it deserved. Although, with BCCI trying to promote women's cricket, it is high time we track young talents from districts and villages to find the best in India. The Cricket Association of Bengal has just done that. The newly announced Byju's Bengal Women's T20 Blast will give the limelight to all the unknown faces of female cricket in Bengal. The tournament is scheduled to start on the 7th of February, 2022.

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The Cricket Association of Bengal has already arranged two seasons of the Bengal T20 Challenge for the men's cricketers. Now, they have given a chance to the girls from Bengal to showcase their talent on the bigger stage. The tournament will have six teams from the Kolkata Maidan. East Bengal, Kalighat, Aryan, Mohammedan Sporting, Town Club and Rajasthan Club are the teams to participate in the tournament. 90 players were drafted in six teams on Wednesday.

CAB President Avishek Dalmiya's take on the tournament

CAB President Avishek Dalmiya delivered the inaugural speech. Along with him CAB Jt secy Debabrata Das, Tour, Fixture & Technical committee chairman Subhankar Ghosh Dastidar, Players' benevolent and benefit fund committee chairman Santanu Mitra, Women's National selector Mithu Mukherjee, Women's cricket committee chairman Shyama Dey (Shaw), Women's Selection Committee chairman Chandana Mukherjee and BCCI match referee Moumita Chakraborty were present on the dias.

"We are very happy to resume our local tournaments, which were stalled because of the recent Covid19 surge. We have been contemplating over the last few years that club cricket in the women's segment must begin. We tried to start this tournament last season but due to Covid we had to cancel at the last moment. We are extremely happy to start the tournament this year. It's not going to be a one-off tournament and we will be working keenly to make it better with each passing year.

CAB President Avishek Dalmiya via CAB Media

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Md. Nasim, a representative from Mohammedan Sporting Club said, "This is a great initiative by the CAB. The girls from various parts of Bengal will get a chance to showcase their game. This will strengthen the Bengal cricket as well." Meanwhile, they are also planning to give extra incentives to players if they do well in the tournament. "Our secretary, Mr Deepak Kumar Singh has already given his words to provide extra incentives to all the players if we do well in the tournament", he added.

Byju's Bengal Women's T20 Blast will also see nearly half of the girls from outside Kolkata. Therefore, unseen talents from the outskirts of Bengal will have the spotlight on them for the first time. Abhijit Chaudhuri, head coach of Nadia District Women's Cricket team said, "We are thankful to CAB for taking such an initiative. The girls from our district have done very well in the last few years. This tournament will help young girls to knock the doors of the Bengal team if they do well."

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Jhumia Khatun, a Senior Women's cricketer from Bengal said, "Earlier we used to get very less matches to prepare for the bigger stages. This will give us to matches to prepare for the upcoming T20 Board matches." Meanwhile, Jhumia believes that with a great combination of juniors and senior cricketers in the team, they have a great chance to perform well in the tournament. "I will be focusing on playing till the last ball of the match as a batter to ensure a win for my team," she added. Jhumia will be playing for Aryan Club in the tournament.

Just like the major leagues in the world, Byju's Bengal Women's T20 Blast will give a chance to young players to share the dressing room with bigger guns of cricket. Barnali Tamuli, a pacer who will don the East Bengal jersey thinks the same as well. "Sharing the dressing room with the seniors like Rumeli Dhar is something I am looking for." Moreover, she is also prepared to learn the art of swing from veteran all-rounder of Bengal Cricket. "None have a better wrist position than Rumeli di. I am very excited to learn from her", she added.

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Meanwhile, Anamika Das drafted in Town Club as a wicket-keeper batter hopes to knock the doors of U25 team via this tournament. "I know I am the second wicket-keeper in the squad. However, I am hopeful I will have a chance to prove myself as a wicket-keeper batter in these 10 matches." Town Club also have senior Bengal wicket-keeper Parna Paul in the team as well. "I want to add value to my team and looking forward to contribute as much as possible," Anamika shared over a phone call to Sportz Point.

However, the eyes will be on the players who has not been in any Bengal squad recently. Sonali Mondal, a left-handed batter who stays nearly 100km away from Kolkata, hopes this tournament can change her career. "This is a great opportunity for upcoming players like us. I want to learn and grow as much as possible from this tournament." Sonali will be part of Rajasthan team which will be led by young sensation Dhara Gujjar.

Byju's Bengal Women's T20 Blast: Drafted players

The most interesting part of the Byju's Bengal Women's T20 Blast is that every team has a female coach and a female mentor in every squad. This also suggest who much strength CAB has in their structure of Women's Cricket.

All the matches of the Byju's Bengal Women's T20 Blast will be telecasted live on Fan Code App. All the matches will be played at Bengal Cricket Ground, Kalyani.

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