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{{Short description|Former sports governing body, 1973–2007}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox association
| name = Women's Cricket Association of India
| abbreviation = WCAI
| formation = {{Start date|1973}}
| merged = [[Board of Control for Cricket in India]]
| defunct = {{End date|2006|11}}
| founder = Mahendra Kumar Sharma
| founding_location = [[Lucknow]], Uttar Pradesh
| purpose = National governing body of [[women's cricket]]
| headquarters =
| affiliations = [[International Women's Cricket Council]]
}}

The '''Women's Cricket Association of India''' (WCAI) was the national [[Sports governing body|governing body]] of [[women's cricket]] in India. It was founded in 1973 at [[Lucknow]], Uttar Pradesh. The WCAI was merged into the [[Board of Control for Cricket in India]] (BCCI) in November 2006.

Its team, the [[India women's national cricket team]], represented India in [[women's international cricket]]. The team is now governed by the BCCI, following the merger.
== History ==
While women played cricket in various parts of India in the early 1970's, there was no organization governing women's cricket.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The history of Indian women's cricket |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-history-of-indian-women-s-cricket-94140 |access-date=2022-11-09 |website=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref> The first women's cricket club in India, named The Albees, was founded in Mumbai in 1969 by Aloo Bamjee, a member of the [[Cricket Club of India]]. Until 1972, The Albees did not have any opponents and organised matches amongst its 60 members.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-12-19 |title=Beyond boundaries: Remembering the ‘mother hen’ of women’s cricket |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/beyond-boundaries-remembering-the-mother-hen-of-womens-cricket/articleshow/88365000.cms |access-date=2024-07-01 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

In [[Lucknow]], Mahendra Kumar Sharma began organising softball and handball tournaments for school and college girls in the city. A team organised by Sharma played at a softball tournament in Hyderabad in 1973. Following the tournament, the girls began playing cricket with the softball bats after witnessing boys playing the sport. This gave Sharma the idea to organise a cricket tournament. He personally traveled around the city in an [[auto rickshaw]] with a microphone to promote the event. Around 200 people attended the tournament held at the Queen’s Anglo Sanskrit College in Lucknow in 1973. The attendance encouraged Sharma to establish a women's cricket association.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Mani |first=Sowmya |date=2022-09-13 |title=The Unsung Hero Whose Immense Determination Made Cricket a Reality for Women in India |url=https://thebetterindia.com/297194/indian-womens-cricket-unsung-hero-mahendra-kumar-sharma-history/ |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=The Better India |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=P. K. Ajith |date=2022-11-09 |title=Mahendra Kumar Sharma, the man who fought for women’s cricket in India, passes away |url=https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cricket/womens-cricket/mahendra-kumar-sharma-womens-cricket-india-pioneer-passes-away-age-75/article66114865.ece |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=Sportstar |language=en}}</ref>

The Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) was registered in Lucknow in 1973 under the [[Societies Registration Act, 1860|''Societies Act'']], with Sharma as the founder secretary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mahendra Kumar Sharma, one of the pioneers of women's cricket in India, dies |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mahendra-kumar-sharma-one-of-the-pioneers-of-womens-cricket-in-india-dies-1344125 |access-date=2022-11-09 |website=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref> The first president of the WCAI was [[Hamida Habibullah]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guest |date=2023-11-17 |title=FEATURE: Tracing the History of the Women’s Cricket Association of India |url=https://crickether.com/2023/11/17/feature-tracing-the-history-of-the-womens-cricket-association-of-india/ |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=CRICKETher |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The WCAI organised the Women's Inter-State Nationals in Pune in April 1973. It was the first national-level, interstate women’s cricket competition in the country. Three teams - [[Mumbai women's cricket team|Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra women's cricket team|Maharashtra]] and [[Uttar Pradesh women's cricket team|Uttar Pradesh]] - participated in the inaugural edition of the tournament. The Mumbai team was captained by [[Diana Edulji]].<ref name=":1" /> The second edition was held in Varanasi in December 1973 and featured eight teams. Following the tournament, the executive committee of the WCAI was reorganised. Chandra Tripathi and [[Premala Chavan]] became the chairperson and president of the WCAI respectively, alongside founder secretary Sharma. The third edition of the Women's Inter-State Nationals was held in Calcutta and featured 14 teams. Subsequent editions saw participation from all states in India.<ref name=":0" />

The WCAI introduced new competitions in 1974. The Rani Jhansi Trophy, an inter-zonal limited overs tournament, was held at Kanpur, and an inter-university tournament was held at Rajkot. Sub-junior and junior tournaments were also introduced for under-15 and under-19 players.<ref name=":0" /> The WCAI was granted membership of the [[International Women's Cricket Council]] (IWCC) in 1973, and was recognized by the Government of India in 1978.<ref name=":0" /> The first international women's cricket match in India was held on 7 February 1975 against the touring Australian under-25 team. A series of three first-class matches were played in Pune, Delhi and Calcutta. Ujwala Nikam, Sudha Shah and Shreeroopa Bose captained the Indian team in the three matches respectively.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Women's First-Class Matches played by India Women |url=https://stats.acscricket.com/Archive/Teams/0/806/Womens_First-Class_Matches.html |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians}}</ref>

The [[West Indies women's cricket team in India in 1976–77|first women's Test series]] in India was held in November 1976, when the [[West Indies women's cricket team|West Indies]] toured the country. India played its first Test match on 31 October 1976 at the [[M. Chinnaswamy Stadium]] in Bangalore. India won the fourth Test in Patna on 19 November in front of 25,000 spectators, recording its first ever Test match victory. The six Test series ended in a 1–1 draw.<ref>{{Cite web |title=When Chennai hosted its first women's Test: 'They came to watch the cricket, not just to see if the girls could play' |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/when-chennai-hosted-its-first-women-s-test-they-came-to-watch-the-cricket-not-just-to-see-if-the-girls-could-play-1441157 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}</ref> India went on its [[India women's cricket team in Australia and New Zealand in 1976–77|first tour]] in January 1977 playing Tests against [[New Zealand women's national cricket team|New Zealand]] and [[Australia women's national cricket team|Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=AUS-W vs IND-W Cricket Scorecard, Only Test at Perth, January 15 - 17, 1977 |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/india-women-tour-of-australia-1976-77-61974/australia-women-vs-india-women-only-test-67458/full-scorecard |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}</ref> Due to the [[Sporting boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era|international boycott]] of [[South Africa]], the [[1978 Women's Cricket World Cup]] was shifted to India. The WCAI made a successful bid, and served as the primary organiser, with the IWCC providing only limited oversight.<ref>{{cite book |last=Velija |first=Philippa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJMMCgAAQBAJ |title=Women's Cricket and Global Processes: The Emergence and Development of Women's Cricket as a Global Game |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9781137323538 |page=99}}</ref> Sharma was the WCAI secretary for the first five years of its existence and was responsible for organising the 1978 World Cup.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gupta |first1=Shalini |title=Remembering Indian women’s cricket pioneer Mahendra Sharma |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/remembering-indian-women-s-cricket-pioneer-mahendra-sharma-101668533001525.html |website=Hindustan Times |access-date=1 July 2024 |location=Chandigarh |date=15 November 2022}}</ref>

Following the merger of IWCC into the [[International Cricket Council]] (ICC) in 2005, the WCAI was merged into the [[Board of Control for Cricket in India]] (BCCI) in November 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BCCI finally takes full control of India women's cricket |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/bcci-finally-takes-full-control-of-india-women-s-cricket-267701 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}</ref> [[Ranee Narah]] and [[Shubhangi Kulkarni]] were the president and secretary of the WCAI respectively before the merger.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WCAI to be disbanded shortly |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/wcai-to-be-disbanded-shortly-267721 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}</ref> Nutan Gavaskar, the sister of [[Sunil Gavaskar]], was an honorary general secretary of WCAI.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 October 2014 |title=BCCI ignores women's cricket: Nutan Gavaskar |url=http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/BCCI-ignores-women%E2%80%99s-cricket-Nutan-Gavaskar/article11077900.ece |access-date=15 February 2018 |work=The Hindu}}</ref> After the merger, Ranee Narah and Diana Edulji became BCCI board members.<ref name="Indian-Express">{{cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/wcai-suspends-shubhangi-on-war-path-with-bcci/|title=WCAI ‘suspends’ Shubhangi, on war path with BCCI|publisher=[[The Indian Express]]|author= G. S. Vivek|date=2 March 2007|accessdate=1 February 2026|archive-url=http://www.webcitation.org/69IAIKK0d|archive-date=20 July 2012}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Cricket in India]]
*[[Women's Premier League (cricket)|Women's Premier League]] (WPL)
*[[Sport in India]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1973 establishments in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Cricket administration in India| ]]
[[Category:Women's cricket in India]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1973]]

{{cricket-org-stub}}

Women's Cricket Association of India - Revision history

KrushiN1: Made initial details basic info - done