Beyond boundaries: These girls hit the cricket field daily — for freedom

Time of India

a day ago

Gurgaon: Every day, at the crack of dawn, before Millennium City stirs to life, around 25 young women pick up their bats and pads, not necessarily aiming for a place in a club, college or state team, but in defiance of gender stereotypes imposed on them.
A cricket ground in Kadipur has become an arena of liberation for these girls, who are not just from the city but also other parts of south Haryana.
For 16-year-old Kajal, cricket isn't just a sport, it's a statement of identity. After leading her team to victory at the national games in Panchkula, she made a decision that went beyond the boundary line. Her long hair, kept for years to please her mother, had to go. "Cut it so short that no strand comes in my eyes while I play," she told the barber after winning the nationals.
But Kajal doesn't "want to be described as just a woman cricketer". "When gender is emphasised in sports, especially for women, it overshadows the athlete. People tend to see you as a woman in sports, rather than simply a sportsperson."
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Ask her about her favourite player and she quips, "When I look in the mirror, I see my favourite player."
Her journey hasn't been smooth. During a match in Paladi, Mahendergarh, her shoes came off in the middle of a game.
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With no shops nearby, she borrowed an ill-fitting pair from a spectator and continued playing.
The same determination defines her daily routine— running 1.5km to practise rather than taking the local transport to the cricket ground. "What kind of a sportsperson would I be if I can't even run a kilometre a day," she says. Kajal isn't alone trying to make a mark. Tanu (18), from a family of six sisters, is also scripting her story through cricket.
"I would wake up before everyone else, finish all the household chores so my mother wouldn't have a reason to stop me," she says.
Once, when locked in her room to prevent her from playing, she escaped when her mother was in the kitchen. "My mother beat me up when I returned. But it didn't matter. I had played enough cricket for the day," she smiles.
But cricket wasn't her one true love. She started with badminton, then shifted to cricket after watching other girls play.
As a left-handed batsman and part-time bowler, Tanu still remembers earning Rs 200 and player of the match trophy in a game, which gave "one more reason" to her family to allow her to play.
For Harshita (18), the pursuit of cricket meant dropping out of college for a year. Now studying in Rewari and training in Gurgaon, she navigates the two cities to keep her dream alive. "Govt colleges in Gurgaon don't even have a girls' team.
It's never been easy — managing academics in one city and training in another. But I'll do whatever it takes to keep playing," she insists.
The girls aren't waging a lonely battle. Coach Ajit Singh, who started an academy in 2009, has been pushing their cause at every platform possible.
He has seen his team become champions in multiple age groups at the School Games Federation of India tournaments. It was a community effort that transformed their training ground — once a barren patch dotted with Babul trees — into a proper cricket field three years ago.
"A local councillor helped bring in debris from a nearby road and houses that were demolished. A municipal tender was issued to supply soil and grass. Thus, the pitch took shape three years ago," says Singh.
But coach Singh rues the lack of consistent support from education and sports departments. He relies mainly on local corporate professionals and former playing colleagues for donations of bats, balls, and gear, and for funds for the tournaments he organises.
One of Singh's supporters, who regularly donates equipment for the budding cricketers, believes the women's game should be celebrated as much as other leagues.
"While everybody celebrates IPL and cheers for their favourite teams, few know that there is a women's premier league too. Why can't we celebrate that as well? Ajit used to play with us. One day, he came up with an idea of a women's cricket team and we said 'why not?'. Though we can't train them through the day as we work in corporate setups, we can support them with equipment and funds. So, we do that," he says.
In a state with a skewed gender ratio, these young cricketers are writing a new narrative. With every ball bowled and a run scored, they are breaking boundaries.