The rules are the same and the playing conditions never differ, but when it comes to monetary benefits the gulf is wide indeed, when we talk about men and women in mos fields. However, there is one area where there is no discrimination, namely when it comes to sports officials.
Whether it is World Cup football, cricket, tennis or hockey, it is an even playing ground for the officials immaterial of gender. Meet Vrinda Rathi, the latest entrant into the fold of umpires, who made her appearance in Harris Shield before graduating to become a Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) umpire. Excerpts from our conversation...
What has the journey been like so far?
The journey so far has been amazing, right from the maidans to Board matches to here at Wankhede Stadium for T20 Mumbai League. Each of the stages has its own element of positives and negatives, but trust me it’s all worth the experience. Nothing is impossible if you are ready to put in your hard work. I think talent would take you to a certain level but hard work would take you much ahead.
You made your umpiring debut in the Under-16, what was it like?
Debut games are always special, you are excited and nervous to start with but all settles down within a few overs. My first match was one to remember also because we had weather intervention (rains).
I had heard few umpires saying that in their careers of 10-15 years they had never encountered the weather interruption, and we had it in our debut game itself! It was a three day U-16 game played at Puducherry but my debut had to wait for a while as Day 1 was washed out because of the rains.
Did your appearance generate much attention?
Except for the first day when the boys saw me (a woman umpire) and were initially a bit surprised, once everyone out there knows that you mean business there at the centre, your gender does not matter.The boys were professional and well behaved. As the game started it was no more a male and a female umpire but instead simply the two umpires.
What was that factor about Kathy Cross, who in 2002 became the first woman to be selected in a Test match umpiring team, which inspired you?
The very fact that a woman can also be an umpire! I had played the game for a few years, also did scoring for almost five years. I had never seen a women umpire on field, it was always men doing the umpiring. It was during my scoring stint in the Women’s World Cup, 2013 that I first came across Kathy Cross as I was the scorer for that match and she was the umpire. This first inspired me to think of progressing to cricket umpiring.
You played cricket at the University level. Do you feel that officials should play a higher level or is it not necessary to play the game?
I don’t think that to be an umpire it is necessary to play the game at a certain level. Having said that, playing the game at some stage is always an advantage for an umpire to understand it in a better way than ones who have not played. But this advantage would just be for a small time, as once we start umpiring we slowly start understanding it and learn from it match by match.
What is the difference between officiating an inter-school contest compared to one with higher levels of competition?
My debut match for Mumbai CA was a Harris Shield match at Azad Maidan. Since then I have officiated many Harris and Giles shield matches in the maidans of Mumbai. There is not much of a difference when it
comes to intensity or competitiveness of how the teams compete against each other at any level.It is only that the competition keeps getting better and better as you go higher.
Do you feel umpiring is a thankless job?
It is always said that umpiring is a thankless job, but at the same time, we as umpires would like to leave the field unnoticed, which means all is well at the end of the match. For me personally, I take umpiring as my job, and I like doing my job. You meet 22 different people during every match and closely interact with them.
You deal with players coming from various walks of life. It’s a very enriching experience. You feel more responsible for the kind of role you are expected to play. The experience, wisdom, and friendships you take home are the essence of any sport.
