Wayanad: How Wayanad became women's cricket capital of Kerala

It’s been a decade since the thud of the ball hitting the middle of the bat and the shrieks of young girls started reverberating around the picturesque Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad. As the girls made their way from the stadium with the heavy kits on their shoulders, elders often gave them a quizzical look with some even asking them, "Makkale ningalkku vere pani onnum ille. Poyi padichu valla joli medikkan nokku. [Don’t you have any other work to do? Go, study and try to find a job]."Not anymore. The journey of one among them, Minnu Mani, from a tribal household in Wayanad, to the Indian team has not only transformed people’s perception towards women’s cricket but has also given other aspiring women players a reason to dream. medium102034824“I admonished her for playing cricket with the boys when she was a kid. Despite our initial objections, Minnu persevered. And through hard work, she has realised her dream and proved us wrong. I am sure now parents wouldn’t raise an objection when their girls go out to play,” says Mani CK, Minnu’s dad, who is a daily wage labourer.Home of women's cricket And it is not Minnu alone who is creating ripples in women’s cricket from the state. Close on the heels of Minnu’s elevation, two girls from Wayanad, Sajana Sajeevan, and allrounder VJ Joshita have been summoned for the trials of Women’s Premier League teams, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. Last year, the leg-spinner from Malappuram Najila CMC was part of India's U-19 World Cup winning team.But the growth of women’s cricket in Kerala owes a lot to the girls from Wayanad as many as eight from the district play in Kerala’s state senior women’s team. Even in junior categories, the girls from Wayanad dominate the Kerala squad. And it all started with the launch of women’s cricket academies in the state by the KCA. medium102034885 Within two years of its functioning, the women’s academy in Wayanad shifted its operations to Krishnagiri when the KCA stadium was commissioned there.Many girls in Wayanad, especially from lower-income backgrounds, including the scheduled tribes and scheduled castes, took to cricket and attended the academies’ selection trials. “Cricket is an expensive game. So, the girls in schools turned to other sports which didn’t need them to spend a lot of money. And most of the physical education teachers in schools at that time were not competent enough to impart basic cricket training to cricketers," says TC Mathew, former president and secretary of KCA, under whose initiative the women’s cricket academies were launched in the state.It was not just the interest in cricket that made these girls join these academies. It was more about the amenities offered to them that prompted them to take up the game, Mathew says. medium102034931 "So, we had to do something to attract the girls towards the game. Most of these girls were from poor backgrounds and if they got selected to the academy, everything including food, accommodation, clothing, education and medical expenses were taken care of by KCA. For parents, who were mostly daily wage labourers or small-time farmers, it was also a way to lessen the burden in their household," he adds.How academies functionThere is a three-way process to select aspiring cricketers to the academies every year. A selection trial is held at the district level for junior girl cricketers (U-15, U-19). The best talents picked from each district then attend a zonal selection trial and from there the promising ones join the state junior academy. “The junior academy functions in Kottayam. The performers in junior academy graduate to the senior women’s academy in Wayanad, which is for college students and above,” Nazar Machan, the secretary of Wayanad District Cricket Association elaborates on the functioning of women’s cricket academies. Around 18-20 women cricketers from the academy train at the Krishnagiri stadium on a regular basis and they also utilise the indoor net facility and the gym.One woman who has seen the growth of women cricketers in the region at close quarters is Suman Sharma. Suman has been head coach of women’s cricket in Kerala for almost a decade now and she says she had to literally start from scratch. “When I joined in 2013, the girls were very raw. So I had to start from teaching them the basics of batting, bowling and fielding,” recalls Suman on the initial years of her association with Kerala cricket. The women cricketers from Wayanad were physically very fit and quick learners. But the bigger challenge for Suman was to work on the mental aspect of these aspiring cricketers. medium102034989 “Because of their background, the girls had plenty of inhibitions and were really scared to express themselves. And when some of them were picked for zonal, national camps, or national-level tournaments, communication proved to be a big issue. So I had to work hard to get rid of their fears and improve their public speaking skills. Slowly, they began to get better at the game and grew more confident. Minnu’s elevation to the Indian team has come as a shot in the arm for these cricketers,” explains Suman.The first major achievement of women’s cricket in Kerala came when the state's junior team emerged champions in the All India Women’s U-23 tournament. In fact, it is the only title won by a Kerala team in a Board of Control for Cricket in India-organised tournament nationally to date in either men’s or women’s categories. Early this year the state senior squad upset the powerhouses of Indian women's cricket, 13-time champions Railways, to top the group stage of the Women's Tournament.The girls who go on to play for the state senior women’s team get Rs 10,000 per match irrespective of the format they play in. “Earlier, girls like me used to think that as we are from Kerala we won’t be considered for national team selection. In camps, I was even told by players from other states that if you play for another team, you stand a better chance of getting into the Indian team. Minnu has changed that perception. Also, these days there are a lot more avenues for women’s cricket like WPL [Women's Premier League]. So if you perform well, you can make a living out of it. Look at Minnu…she rebuilt her house destroyed by the 2018 floods with the money she earned by playing cricket. She had not played for India or WPL at that time,” says Kerala captain Sajana, who is a regular in Challenger trophy and South Zone squads.Kerala’s most celebrated cricketer these days, Minnu, is upbeat about the future of Kerala’s women’s cricket. “I think we have great talent in the state and we are getting better with each passing year. The only thing you need to do is shed your inhibitions and play well consistently. And I am sure more girls from the state will make it to the Indian team,” feels Minnu.