Kohli, Mithali and Harmanpreet Bat for Mixed Gender T20

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Royal Challenge Sports Drink launched a campaign, #ChallengeAccepted, with an aim to take on the gender-based stereotypes in cricket, emphasizing on building a level playing field both on and off the field.


The idea behind the campaign is to challenge the belief that women’s cricket isn’t on the same pedestal as men’s cricket due to the perceptions that women aren’t strong, fast or fit enough.



The brand is set to organize the first ever mixed gender T20 match involving women cricketers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore team.

Virat Kohli backed the move, saying, “Be it men or women, cricket is one game and I want to urge the fans to break the boundaries that exist in their mind that divides the sport by gender. Equality in sports is ultimately a reflection of equality in life and if we want a better tomorrow then we need to say #ChallengeAccepted and start breaking down all stereotypes.”

India Women’s cricket team has made all the right noises in the recent past and the ODI skipper Mithali Raj approved of such initiative.

“Over the recent years, women’s cricket has made a lot of progress in terms of earning respect from fans and experts but the playing field is still not equal and the true difference are seen when there is parity in opportunities, salaries, coverage and fan support,” she said.

 

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The India Women T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said, “People say that women and men’s cricket is not equal because we are not able to face the same challenges on-field. To all those fans, I want to say that neither does the idea of facing a ball at 150 kmph daunt me, nor do I worry about the size of the stadium while hitting a boundary. The start to making cricket one game will come from fans saying Challenge Accepted and breaking the barriers in their mind.”

One of India’s T20 specialists player, Veda Krishnamurthy voiced her opinion while backing the move, saying, “If we want a world tomorrow where girls start looking at professional cricket as a real career option then we need to begin to change the game today. If we don’t put women and men cricketers on the same field then fans are not going to see it as one game, hence we are saying #ChallengeAccepted and asking the nation to support the mixed gender match."

 

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