BCCI’s Short Shrift To Shubhangi Kulkarni And Diana Edulji Is Appalling

For too long India’s founding pillars of women’s cricket — Shubhangi Kulkarni and Diana Edulji- – have been given the short shrift for the Lifetime achievement award. This absolutely smacks of injustice to the country’s top flight cricketers of the 1970s when the women’s team made its Test debut against the West Indies at Bangalore in 1976. Shubhangi, who took seven wickets in the Test including a 5ver in the first innings and took 60 wickets overall bowling leg spin, is 66 and Diana who took 63 Test wickets between 1976 and 1991 is 70. Both have been part of women’s cricket ecosystem as an administrator with the BCCI and ICC and one is appalled by unenlightened attitude of those deciding on the Lifetime achievement award. It appears all calls are taken at the whims and fancies of certain people and this has happened when cricketers like Sourav Ganguly, Roger Binny were at the helm of the BCCI and now when Mithun Manhas is at the helm. This is bizarre. Shubhangi and Diana ought to have been bestowed the Lifetime awards a few years ago. Both have worked towards solving payment related matters to current and past cricketers who of course will not run a campaign for the lifetime for these two once their grievances are sorted out. Mithali Raj — speculated to be getting the award in March 15 at the BCCI annual awards in New Delhi — was born in 1982, six years after Shubhangi and Diana made their international debut. The BCCI must, sooner than later, rectify its erroneous decisions and fete the two stalwarts of Indian women’s cricket with the Lifetime Achievement honour. These two will never think of staging a protest. The BCCI must respect the two.