Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): More than 1,300 girls and boys from the rural areas of four districts of Madhya Pradesh will take part in a cricket tournament, beginning in Harda on Monday.
The Samaveshi Cup, however, is not just another cricket tournament. It is less about sports or cricket, and more about social change. It’s unique in the sense that all the teams will be mixed gender with girls as captains.
Seventeen-year-old Ankita Sariyam of Manasa village is the captain of one of the teams. “Earlier, I thought that cricket was meant only for boys. Now, I know that we girls can not only play but also lead our teams. I’m proud to be a part of this change.” The initiative was launched five years back in Harda district. The aim was to draw girls in the rural areas out of their homes and help them claim public spaces like sports grounds.
According to tournament organisers, it was difficult to persuade parents to allow their daughters to play cricket. Assembling the first team of 11 players was quite a job. Gradually, however, the concept picked up and girls’ teams came up in many villages. They took part in annual tournaments as proud representatives of their villages, boosting their self-confidence and equipping them with leadership skills.
Two years later, it was decided to add another dimension to tournament, said Vimal Jaat, CEO, Synergy Sansthan, Harda - the organisation behind the initiative. It was decided to have boys and girls playing in the same team. The idea behind gender-equal games was to promote gender equality. This experiment ran successfully for two years.
This year, Sansthan decided to introduce the game in Barwani, Khandwa and Guna. In all 102 teams comprising 1,326 players, both boys and girls, from the four districts are taking part in the tournament. The league matches are over and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played in Harda on January 13-14.
