Women deserve their own IPL, says Shubhangi

Architect of first Test victory feels women’s cricket has come a long way

Opposite the tennis court at the famed Deccan Gymkhana Club in Pune is a shop that sells things exclusively cricket. At the cash counter you will find a middle-aged woman with cropped, salt-and-pepper hair.

She will help you choose the right bat or glove. Sometimes, her suggestions are met with arched eyebrows. Shubhangi Kulkrani, however, does not let on that she is well qualified to advise. She does not let on that she is a former India captain who played 19 Tests and 27 ODIs.

Most of the visitors to her shop may not know that she bowled the Indian women’s team to its first-ever Test victory, or that she was a successful administrator who played a key role in the BCCI taking women’s cricket under its wing.

Not that she minds!

She is happy just to spend time at Sunny’s Sports Boutique, which she established some four decades ago in partnership with former Baroda cricketer Jairaj Mehta and Sunil Gavaskar.

Inside the shop, you will find posters of the batting legend. “Sunil’s parents lived in Pune and he used to have training sessions with the widely respected coach Kamal Bhandarkar,” Shubhangi tells The Hindu. “He visits the shop whenever he is in Pune.”

Gavaskar was the biggest icon of Indian cricket when Shubhangi started playing the game.