Step-by-step advice on pathways, clubs, competitions and coaching for getting into girls cricket and women’s cricket in Madhya Pradesh.
As a young girl in the small town of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Nuzhat Parween loved to play sports. She ignored the people in her neighbourhood who passed comments about how she shouldn’t be outside playing with boys.
Nuzhat played football for her state and was a star in the 100m athletics, while also managing to get excellent marks in her class 12 board exams. But soon, cricket became her main sport. Having played her first BCCI tournament at 14, she went on to be part of the Indian squad that made it to the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.
Nuzhat was only following in the footsteps of several big names from Madhya Pradesh who have represented India, right from the earliest days of women’s cricket in India. Rajeshwari Dholakia was part of India’s first Test win in 1976. Sandhya Agarwal had the record for the highest score in a Test. Minoti Desai, Rekha Punekar, Rupanjali Shastri, Arundhati Kirkire and, most recently, Pooja Vastrakar have all worn India whites or blue.
Here’s how girls today can join women’s cricket in Madhya Pradesh.
How to get selected for the Madhya Pradesh women’s team
Madhya Pradesh has teams for Under-16, Under-19, Under-23 and senior women’s teams.
Selection to the state team has the following steps:
District-level trials → Inter-district → Inter-division → Probables camp → Practice matches → State team
The state is made of 50 cricket districts. Most districts have their own women’s team, and you can be a part of these teams if you live in that district. Selection to these district teams is via camps and open trials. Keep an eye on the newspaper and on the district associations’ Facebook pages for details of when these trials happen.
These districts are further grouped into 10 divisions: Rewa, Sagar, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore, Narmadapuram, Gwalior, Ujjain, Chambal, Shahdol.
See here for which districts make up each division.
In most divisions, inter-district matches are held (usually for seniors and juniors separately). Based on performances in these matches, a combined divisional team is formed.
But for other divisions, this step is not there and the teams are formed based on open trials.
The 10 divisions then play the inter-division tournament. This tournament is at the heart of MP cricket. They are held for three age groups:
- Senior women – the tournament is called the JS Anand Trophy
- U19 women
- U16 girls (tournament started in 2017-18)
This tournament has a group stage, followed by the knockouts.
For each age group, based on these matches (50-overs for seniors, 30-over for U16 usually), a group of around 25 probables is selected. This group will have multiple camps for skills and fitness.
The probables then play against teams, who are generally invited from other states.
Based on all these matches, a final state team is selected.
Facilities
Every division has facilities that female cricketers can access. Some have nets just for women. So far, the main Madhya Pradesh Cricket Academy is mostly for men.
Singrauli has become a popular centre for women’s cricket because of local girl Nuzhat Parween.
Contact Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association on cricket.operations@mpcaonline.com or +91-731-2543602
Girls school cricket in Madhya Pradesh
Schools in the main cities of MP feature in the Schools Games Federation of India competitions.
Women’s college cricket in Madhya Pradesh
The MPCA does not organise inter-college matches but colleges do take part in inter-varsity matches. Jabalpur University, Barkatullah University Bhopal and Maharaja Chhatrasal Bundelkhand University have women’s teams at the inter-varsity events.
Notable academies
- Happy Wanderers, Indore
- Ankur Cricket Academy, Rewa
- Mayank Chaturvedi Cricket Academy, Bhopal
- Sai Sports Academy, Chhatarpur
Financial aid & scholarships
In each division, players who have made it to the state probables and division team get free coaching at the division centre.
If you have information on schools, colleges or academies that support girls cricket in Madhya Pradesh, contact us and we’ll add it to this page!