The Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) was the national governing body of women's
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
in India. It was founded in 1973 at
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
, Maharashtra. It was merged into the
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...
(BCCI) in 2007.
Premala Chavan
Premala Chavan (2 July 1918 – 8 July 2003), also known as Premalabai and Premalakaki, was an Indian politician and was a member of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The Founder-President of the All India Women's Cricket Association, she was ...
, a Member of Parliament was its first president.
Its team the
India women's national cricket team
The India women's national cricket team, also known as Team India or Women in Blue, represents India in women's international cricket. It is governed by Board of Control for Cricket in India
India made its Test debut in 1976, against the West ...
represented India in
women's international cricket. After its merger the team is governed by BCCI.
History
While women played cricket in India in significant numbers since early 1970's, there was no organization as such until the formation of WCAI by Mahendra Kumar Sharma - it was registered by him as the founder secretary in 1973 in Lucknow under the
Indian Societies Act.
Following the international boycott of South Africa, the
1978 Women's Cricket World Cup
The 1978 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international cricket tournament played in India from 1 to 13 January 1978. Hosted by India for the first time, it was the second edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, after the inaugural 1973 World ...
was shifted to India and organized by WCAI.
Nutan Gavaskar, the sister of
Sunil Gavaskar, was a honorary general secretary of WCAI.
Following the merger of
International Women's Cricket Council
The International Women's Cricket Council was formed in February 1958 by the women's cricket associations of Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa to organise international matches between the countries.
In 2005 it was ...
into
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
in 2006, WCAI merged into
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...
in 2007.
Ranee Narah
Ranee Narah (born 31 October 1965) is an Indian National Congress politician from Assam, and former Rajya Sabha MP for the state between 2016-2022. She was previously a three-term Lok Sabha MP from Lakhimpur constituency, 1998-2004 and 2009-2 ...
and
Shubhangi Kulkarni were the president and secretary of WCAI respectively before the merger.
See also
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Cricket in India
Cricket has been the most popular sport in India in modern era since the British Raj, and is played almost everywhere in the country. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the governing body of Indian cricket and conduct all dome ...
*
Sport in India
*
Women's Premier League (WPL)
*
References
Organisations based in Pune
1973 establishments in Maharashtra
Women's cricket in India
Organizations established in 1973
Cricket in Pune
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