As a result of the pandemic, Gothenburg cricket club’s women’s team struggled last year to gather a squad of eleven for their matches. But for this season, the dilemma of lack of players has suddenly found a solution. “We have 16 players and a liberty to choose from”, Nitya Shankar said.
During the last season, Gothenburg CC participated in three different tournaments. In two of them, they did not have a full-strength squad but fast-forward to this season, they have managed to recruit players, and most of them are young. At the moment, their team includes sixteen players. But they have a good mix of experience and young, promising players who have their future ahead of themselves.
“We have a lot of young and aspiring teens, some of them are natural”, Nitya Shankar said. “There was a time after covid when people were reluctant but now, we have a bigger team, we have 16 players and a liberty to choose from.”
Rashmi Ganjagunte Somashekar is the skipper of Gothenburg CC and agrees with her teammate that the youngsters have injected new energy into the team. “The team is looking better than I thought. Youngsters, who have come in, are showing a lot of interest and commitment, so the team is growing big. We have got a lot of girls to come and play.”
Social media has helped them grow
Most of the players in the team are from the subcontinent. But Nitya and Rashmi, alongside their club, are constantly working to find more players who can help them accomplish their goal. To achieve success, they have used social media to reach more people. And it has paid the dividend.
“Last season, we were experienced players, but this year, the team is growing big”, Rashmi Ganjagunte Somashekar said. One of the reasons is our Instagram page. Through that, we spread that there is cricket in Gothenburg for women.”
As they continue to take small steps in the right direction to grow, Nitya and Rashmi are finding different ways to include local players, that are individuals who have not played cricket before. “We want to bring Swedish players; it is how we can grow”, Nitya Shankar said. “We have one native Swede in our team, and we hope that she can bring her friends. It will also increase the team’s ability because different people from different regions bring different strengths.”
Swedish championship is the goal
Like several other clubs in Sweden, Gothenburg CC also wants to qualify for the Swedish Championship, which will take place in the summer. Both the players are convinced that they have a competitive team that sits on the ability to reach the playoffs. “I would rate our chances high; everybody is committed and showing good progress. Our strength is that everyone is committed”, Rashmi Ganjagunte Somashekar said.
Nitya Shankar adds: “We are a much better team than last year. We have been doing a lot of fitness drills such as badminton to increase our stamina. Techniquewise, we have been putting extra effort in other departments, so we think our techniques and endurance have improved. We want to beat Stockholm.”
Djurgården IF and Malmöhus are the other two clubs that are favourites to qualify for the playoff. Gothenburg CC will face Malmöhus in a virtual quarter-final to decide who finishes top in the group and will have a significant advantage in the playoffs.
