Former Indian women cricketer GS Lakshmi will now always be seen as an emblem of women empowerment as she is now set to become the first woman to host an ICC tournament as a match referee. It has been understood that the former women cricketer has been included in the ICC international panel of match referees this May.
She will be the match referee for the league phase of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 held in UAE. The match will be played between UAE and Oman.
Previously, she has also officiated matches in domestic women circuit in 2008-09 season. She acted as a match referee in three women’s ODIs and three women’s T20 matches. She has also supervised the major tournaments like men’s Under 16 (for the Vijay Merchant Trophy) and Under-19 (Cooch Behar Trophy) domestic games.
During an interview with TNM, the talismanic lady said “I am really elated about the achievement. I want to thank the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for encouraging and nominating women for such professions. This is sure to open a lot of avenues for women, and to all my ex-cricketers, this comes as proof that there is life post-retirement. Women can still work after retirement if they are passionate enough.”
Lakshmi resides in Hyderabad for almost 3 decades now but started her cricket career in Jamshedpur, where her father worked as an employee in TATA. She represented the Indian Railways team for a long period before bursting into the international scene in 1999.
During the interview, she also expressed his views on Indian women cricket
“Until the 2017 World Cup, there was hardly any recognition for women’s cricket in India. Our girls have been doing well internationally but it’s the 2017 World Cup performance that catapulted the team to fame. Earlier, people only knew either Mithali (Raj) or Jhulan Goswami. But now, a lot of women are making it to the fore with the media also actively following women’s cricket. A full-fledged IPL is now being launched for women. I think things are going the right way but it will take a little more time for people to consider women’s cricket at par with men’s,” she told TNM.
