New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS) Snehal Pradhan, manager of women’s cricket at the International Cricket Council (ICC), believes the upcoming edition of 2025 U19 Women’s T20 World Cup will be a major catalyst towards more progress for women’s cricket worldwide.
The upcoming 16-team tournament will be held from January 18 to February 2 in Malaysia, with India entering as defending champions after winning the inaugural edition in 2023 in South Africa.
“It was a fantastic success. It was very much a commitment to equity between the men’s tournament and the women’s tournament but also a leap of faith. Countries were still maturing in how developed their women’s and junior pathways were so it was a chance to see the work that the countries have been putting in over the last few years.
“Having 16 teams was a fantastic starting point in the first place and this will drive more progress in those countries. The ambition was around opportunity and quality. Having this Under-19 tournament meant there was parity between the men’s and women’s events.
“You had a men’s and women’s 50-over World Cup, a men’s and women’s T20 World Cup and a men’s and women’s Under-19 World Cup as well. The fact that parity existed was a big statement.
“The other part was opportunity, because the ambitions were that this tournament being in existence would drive change in member countries. It would build the junior pathways in those countries and that’s exactly what we saw,” said Snehal in a statement issued by the ICC.
The tournament was initially scheduled to be played in January 2021 in Bangladesh, but the Covid-19 pandemic saw the tournament pushed to 2023, with the venue being South Africa. It meant the country hosted two women’s events in the country, as it was followed by 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup in February.
“It aligned that South Africa got the opportunity to host two back-to-back global women’s events. That is probably a unique opportunity for the country. It created momentum with the Under-19 World Cup starting to create awareness around women’s cricket in the country, that was capitalised upon with the Women’s T20 World Cup that followed, which culminated in that sell-out crowd in Newlands, in a market where women’s cricket had never been ticketed before.
“So, the whole thing came together really well, even though it came together much later and in a different place than originally planned. I have to give credit to those who came before me at the ICC. The Under-19 tournament has been a tournament that has been in discussion for a number of years and so many people, primarily our events team and the board, who had the vision to commit to the tournament at this age, need to be acknowledged,” added Snehal, who played six ODIs and four T20Is for India.
The 2023 U19 World Cup gave explosive opener Shafali Verma her first taste of captaining India to a first-ever world title in women’s cricket alongside wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh. The tournament gave many a first chance to see Georgia Plimmer in action for New Zealand, who played a pivotal role in the senior team winning the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai.
“The positioning of the tournament across men’s and women’s is future stars because this is a tournament that allows a number of players to make their name at Under-19 level before going on to play high-level international senior cricket. This tournament provided an opportunity to give a few players who had already made their name in international cricket a platform to really step up as senior players in the team.
“For someone like Shafali Verma, she got the chance to lead the team and get captaincy experience, which she wouldn’t be close to at senior level, that was fantastic. The fact that she was able to lead India to the first ICC trophy on the women’s side was icing on the cake as far as the storyline. It’s huge for the tournament to be able to produce stars but also have stars coming in.
“It’s such a great story and probably a great advertisement of how important this tournament is in the pathway. It’s fair to say that Georgia Plimmer, if she hadn’t had the opportunity on the international stage that she got with New Zealand, may not have been fast-tracked into the senior team as quickly.
“The international exposure that they get, the fact that they get the experience of what a global event feels like, helps them settle down a bit more quickly in the senior side. They have been there before, and so for players like her, Milly Illingworth, who had a great WBBL season, for Theertha Satish of the UAE, who had a great tournament as well, she’s one of those who is now making a very big impact in the senior squad.
“To see these players graduate into international cricket is incredibly satisfying; it’s incredibly exciting to watch. Georgia Plimmer was making her name in a World Cup final just a couple of years after playing in the inaugural tournament,” concluded Snehal.
–IANS
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