'Men's Uniforms Were Re-Stitched For Women'- Vinod Rai makes shocking revelations

There is no denying the fact that the Indian Women's cricket team does not receive the same appreciation as the men's team. Cricket, without a doubt, is the most followed sport in the country, but the same cannot be said for the women's game. And now, Vinod Rai, former chairman of the Committee of Administrators of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has made some shocking revelations about the administration of the women's team.

He said that men's jerseys were cut up and re-stitched for the women's team. He said that he had to contact Nike to request that women's jerseys be designed separately.

"I do not think women's cricket has been given the attention it deserves. Unfortunately, women cricketers had not been taken seriously till about 2006, when Mr Pawar took the initiative to merge the men's and women's association. I was aghast to know that men's uniforms were being cut up and re-stitched for women's players. I had to ring up Nike and tell them that this was not on and that their design would be different," he said in a recent interview with The Week.

Adding to it, he said, "I sincerely believe the girls deserved much better training, coaching facilities, cricketing gear, travel facilities and, finally, match fees and retainers. That was lacking and we tried to rectify it."

'Unless you give them support, how are they going to win a trophy?'- Vinod Rai on women's cricket

Recalling the incident from the 2017 Women's World Cup, Mr Rai said that he regretted not paying attention to the team before Harmanpreet Kaur's knock of 171 against Australia. He said that a team needs support from the administration to win trophies.

He said, "That is an alibi for not doing things. Unless you give them support, how are they going to win a trophy? If they could not win in Australia or England, the main thing was mind conditioning. Every team has those mental trainers and sports psychologists.

"My regret was that I had not given due attention to women's cricket till the match in which Harmanpreet scored 171* in the 2017 Women's World Cup . She told me: “Sir, I was cramping so I had to hit sixes as I could not run much!” They were told at the hotel that they could not get the food they were supposed to, so they had samosas for breakfast that morning!"