Step-by-step advice on pathways, clubs, competitions and coaching for getting into girls cricket and women’s cricket in Bihar.
Cricket for girls and women in Bihar is fairly new and raw. The team only began playing in BCCI tournaments since 2018 (in the modern era).
Many players from Bihar travel outside the state to get coaching. However, as in many places in India, things are improving in this state too.
Here’s how a girl who wants to become a cricketer can go about it in Bihar.
Where to start
A girl who is keen on playing cricket in Bihar can do so in the following ways:
- Join a private coaching academy
- Register and train with a district association (contact details are available here)
- Register directly with the state association and attend trials
If you can’t get into an academy right away, don’t worry. Play any sport at your school or in your area. All of it will help you develop motor skills and fitness, and will come in handy when you do finally play cricket! It’s fine to play multiple sports when young, and specialise in your teens.
How to get selected for the Bihar women’s team
Bihar has Under-19, Under-23 and senior state teams.
Selection for all of them is through a similar process, via open trials. A system of district and zonal cricket used to be there, but has been interrupted by the pandemic.
District trials → Inter-zonals → State probables → State team
The system of open trials, which has been followed in recent years, is straightforward. An announcement is made in the paper or the Bihar Cricket Association website asking all girls who are interested to come to the venue on a particular day.
All participants can register with the association at that time. From the trials, probables are shortlisted for a state camp, when selection matches are also held.
From this group, the final state team is announced.
The trials process is repeated for seniors and juniors. For junior teams, the state team may be directly named without giving probables.
A few years ago, an inter-zonal tournament was held. For this, the state was divided into zones, with each comprising a few districts, as follows:
- East Zone: Khagaria, Banka, Jamui, Bhagalpur, Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar and Arraria
- West Zone: East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzzaffarpur, Sheohar, Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj
- Central Zone: Patna, Jehanabad, Vaishali, Nalanda, Nawada, Munger, Shekhpura and Lakhisarai
- North Zone: Darbhanga, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura and Begusarai
- South Zone: Aurangabad, Kaimur, Rohtash, Gaya, Bhojpur, Arwal and Buxar
At the district level, selection trials were held to identify talented girls who would make up the zonal team.
The zones played one another in the inter-zonal women’s tournament.
The top players in the tournament were named among the state probables and took part in a camp.
From among them, the final state team was announced.
Contact Bihar Cricket Association on jointsecretary@biharcricketassociation.com
School cricket for girls in Bihar
There is no official school-level tournament organised by the Bihar association. However, some schools do have teams and take part in national-level competitions.
- DAV Centenary Public School, Siwan, Bihar
- Sri Ram Centennial School, Patna
College cricket for girls in Bihar
There is no college cricket tournament organised by the state association. However, Patna University has some support for women’s cricket, hence some colleges do have girls playing. Selection for the university team is by trials.
- Patna Women’s College
- Magadh Mahila College
- BN College
- Patna Science College
Academies open to girls in Bihar
- Cricket Academy of Pathans, Patna
- Cricket Academy of Bihar, Moin ul Haq Stadium, Patna
- Pappu Cricket Academy, Siwan
- Mithila Cricket Academy, Danapur (aka Rajesh Cricket Academy)
- Anu Anand School of Cricket, Patna
Academies often get together to organise one-off invitational tournaments around the state. The Sumitra Dayal Women’s Cricket Championship, Patna, was one such effort.
If you have information on schools, colleges or academies that support girls cricket in Bihar, contact us and we’ll add it to this page!