Cricket, a man's game?

Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Binny have already etched their names in the history of world cricket and brought glory to the country. Now, the second generation, Arjun Tendulkar and Stuart Binny are being noticed as promising players.

However, many top cricket players such as M.S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ashwin Ravichandran and Harbhajan Singh have daughters, and going by the last few decades, the girls of cricketer fathers have not been taking to the sport, albeit doing very well in other fields of their choice.

While many Indian cricketers’ sons, such as Angad Bedi, Rohan Gavaskar and Vidyut Jaisimha have dabbled in the sport at some point in their lives, the daughters have steadfastly stayed away. Sana Ganguly, daughter of one of India’s most successful captains Saurav Ganguly, has followed her mother to become a dancer, while Tanya Ghavri, daughter of bowler Karsan Ghavri, has become a well-known celebrity stylist in

Bollywood. It makes one wonder why this parity exists even today. Closer to home, VVS Laxman says that while his son Sarvajit is very passionate about cricket, his daughter Achintya has other interests.

“Both my children are into a lot of energetic outdoor activities, all thanks to my wife Shailaja. My son plays cricket, badminton, a bit of football, but his chief interest is definitely cricket.

“My daughter is into music and dance — both classical as well as Western — and plays badminton and likes to swim. We stay in a community where the kids get together every evening and indulge in these activities under the supervision of a trained coach,” says Laxman.

Stylist Tanya Ghavri, says that her father always encouraged her to take up some sport. “He wanted to imbibe in us the discipline and fitness levels that comes with being a sportsperson, so he always encouraged me and my sister to take up a sport, without forcing us to get into cricket alone,” says Tanya.
However, women’s cricket in India has not grown a lot.

“So subconsciously girls usually don’t even see it as an option, while considering what sport they should go for. But it is only a matter of time before cricket comes into the limelight, even for women,” adds Tanya Ghavri

Saurav Ganguly’s daughter Sana has not chosen to be a cricketer either. “She does not want to be a cricketer. We have also not forced her to be a sportsperson,” says her mother Dona Ganguly, adding, “My daughter used to play cricket in the house but not beyond that. However, she watches IPL matches. She does not like the Test matches. She loves swimming and used to play tennis too, but it is unlikely that she will choose to become an athlete.”

With Dona being a well-known Odissi dancer, Sana also prefers dancing and made her stage debut when she was seven years old in the dance-drama Krishna. In 2009, she performed in a special episode of Dadagiri Unlimited.

“We will motivate Sana to pick whichever career she wants to take up. She wants to be a banker, but her priorities may change later,” says Dona.

R Ashwin, a much-loved bowler, opines, “Though it is too early for me to talk about my daughters’ career plans, I can assure you that they will  be the ones deciding that. I will encourage them, no matter what fields they decide to pursue. As of now, she (elder daughter Akhira, who is about to turn two) enjoys playing cricket with me and also watches the sport on TV.”

Young Akhira accompanies Ashwin to practice sessions at his academy and even plays gully cricket with her father and friends. He says that she even watches Ashwin’s teammates on TV and gets excited when he comes out to bowl. Poornima Rau, former women’s cricket coach, reasons why not many daughters of famous cricket players choose the sport.

“There’s a lot to be gained in men’s cricket, and one can see a definite future there, so fathers who are star cricketers would probably push their sons to get into the sport, but usually, not their daughters. Maybe the situation would have been different if women’s cricket enjoyed the kind of fame and fanfare that men’s cricket does in our country. Their daughters could also have other interests, and there’s no rule that the children of cricketers must be cricketers too! However, I coach young girls and it is really heartening to see so many parents bring their daughters from really far off places, just because they love cricket so much. The future definitely looks bright,” she says.

— With inputs from Bipin Dani and C. Santhosh Kumar