Thiruvananthapuram Greenfield Stadium will host women\u2019s international cricket for the first time. Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium in Mullanpur in Punjab to host the Women's World Cup final with Vishakhapatnam, Raipur and Indore as the other venues.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Women\u2019s cricket in Kerala, which began on a very small scale in the late seventies, when it was really difficult to make up 15 players, is not the same today, as the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is at the forefront of promoting women\u2019s cricket. At present, there are under-15, under-19, under-23 and senior teams.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Niketha Ramankutty, a former state cricketer and current chairperson of the Kerala Women\u2019s Cricket selection team and a member of the South Zone selection panel, told IANS the news has brought a huge cheer from all those who follow women\u2019s cricket in Kerala.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Women from Kerala have started to break the glass ceiling in all sectors, and in cricket too, it\u2019s the same. When we played, the first opposition that came was from one\u2019s home. Today that has changed, and what I can feel is the present generation of girls gets huge support from their families, and that\u2019s a huge positive,\u201d said Ramankutty.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
By now five women from Kerala have made it to the Indian team, and it includes Minnu Mani, Asha, Sajna, Joshita and Najla. Of the five, Njala and Joshita represented the India U-19 national team, while the other three all represented the Indian senior team.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Incidentally, Arundhati Reddy, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, but has been playing for the senior Kerala women\u2019s team for the past two years, has also represented India.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Speaking to IANS, Vinod S.Kumar, secretary of the KCA, said the news that has been selected as one of the host cities for the upcoming 2025 ICC Women\u2019s ODI World Cup has come as a huge morale booster for women\u2019s cricket and all those girls who dream of playing for the state and country.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"With five from the Kerala women's team playing India, already there is a big buzz among the girls, and that can be seen in the increasing number of girls looking for coaching options to fine-tune their game. Now that for the first time, a women\u2019s international match is being staged here, interests will further go up,\u201d said Kumar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kumar added that \"we at KCA will be following the guidelines from the BCCI on the way forward to play the host.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Indian cricketer Sajna Sajeevan was pleasantly surprised, as she did not know that the ground where she practises will now stage a women\u2019s international match for the first time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I feel excited, as the staging of an ICC event (women\u2019s) for the first time will spur more and more young girls to take to the cricketing pitch. Over the years the interest is growing and more girls want to play cricket, and this will make things easier,\u201d said Sajna to IANS.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Indian cricketer Sajna Sajeevan was pleasantly surprised, as she did not know that the ground where she practises will now stage a women\u2019s international match for the first time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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