SC appoints Diana Eduljee to take strike for BCCI’s four member panel

Amid the tussle between BCCI and Lodha Committee which resulted in the sacking of BCCI President Anurag Thakur and BCCI Secretary Ajay Shirke, Supreme Court, on Monday, announced a four member committee that will take charge of the BCCI functioning in the absence of the top bosses. Former CAG of India Vinod Rai was appointed as the head of the committee. The other panelists are historian Ramachandra Guha, CEO of IDBI Bank Vikram Limaye and a surprise package in the form of Diana Eduljee, former Indian women’s cricket team captain.

A right hand batter and a slow left arm bowler, Diana has had a long and successful international career that stretched from 1975 to 1993. Arjuna Award and Padma Shri recipient Eduljee has been involved in the sport not only on field but also off the field as she donned the administrative hat for many years. To name a few, she was a part of the BCCI’s selection committee and Indian Railways selection committee.

Eduljee has not been all that happy with BCCI’s work with respect to women’s cricket and has explicitly commented on the lack of recognition and coverage that the eves get in India. Her inclusion in the committee can be the ray of hope and we might see women’s cricket flourishing as never before in our country. 

ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 to commence on 7th Feb; India eves look to qualify for the WC

England and Wales is all set to host the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 starting 26^th June and the final to be played at Lords, the Mecca of cricket, on 23^rd July. Out of the eight teams that will lock horns against each other, as of now, only four teams are certain to star in the WC fixtures. Former world champs New Zealand, defending champions Australia, hosts England and T20 World Cup 2016 winners West Indies are the four countries already qualified to play the coveted World Cup. The remaining four sides will find themselves fighting hard in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 to secure a berth in the final eight that will play for the prestigious World championship title. The Qualifier will be hosted by Sri Lanka during 7^th Feb to 21^st Feb.

The 10 teams that will go through the qualification process are: India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe. India heads Group A which also includes Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand; South Africa leads Group B and have Pakistan, Bangladesh, Scotland and Papua New Guinea.

Asian champions India stand a strong chance of making the final cut and romp to the final eight of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017. The Women in Blue boast of a perfect blend of experience and youth. Under the able aegis of veteran Mithali Raj, India eves will be eyeing to set their foot on the English soil this June.

India squad: Mithali Raj (captain), Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Deepti Sharma, M D Thirushkamini, Devika Vaidya, Sushma Verma and Poonam Yadav.