2022 will go down in history for Swedish cricket because the first instalment of the Women’s League will take place in the upcoming season. But the route to their destination has not been easy at all.
As mentioned earlier, 2022 will be a historic year in many ways. In addition to league cricket, Gunjan will be a part of a tournament that will take place in Dubai in May. Many international star cricketers such as Harmanpreet Kaur, Marizanne Kapp, Sophie Devine and many more will feature in FairBreak Invitational.
“It is like a dream come true I never thought I will get selected”, says Gunjan Shukla. “Usually, we do not get a big platform. I am looking to grasp as much as I can and learn how they build a team, apart from their personal goals. They have different types of training cultures and different coaching systems. My long-term goal is to get more players from Sweden to be there and take as much as possible so that I can deliver something back to Sweden.”
Big support from the club
Cricket is nothing new to Gunjan; she has played a lot of gully cricket while she lived in India. But it was in Sweden she tried playing cricket with the hardball. However, it was not easy for her when she began her cricketing career.
“When I joined cricket in 2016, there was no cricket team”, says Gunjan. “I was feeling low after my pregnancy, so my husband encouraged me to play cricket. At that time, my club was looking for players to play but at the trials, there were no girls.”
We have set the landmark and hope to get more Swedish girls to play cricket.
Gunjan Shukla
The lack of players did not stop her from achieving what she loves, playing cricket. During the trials, the coaches were impressed by her performance and selected her for the men’s team three weeks later. There, she played for three years before Djurgården started their women’s team. In the meantime, she became captain of the side and was awarded best bowler in the league twice.
“The club gave me a lot of game time. I got a lot of confidence from that. It was working well with the club although I feared balls” says Gunjan Shukla. “They set the platform for me and proposed I take the captain role to learn the essence of the game and improve my game. The support I got from the team was helpful; my teammates were very humble. They were open-minded and never complained; they played as a team. It was easy for me to go to them if I was stuck.”
Beat Norway and Finland
Meanwhile, Gunjan was fighting in division 1, she was also working hard to establish a women’s team alongside her club, Djurgården. In 2018, two years later, she had accomplished her primary goal, Djurgården played their inaugural match against Gothenburg at Skarpnäck. From that day and onwards, they have not looked back.
“I think it is Djurgården and Gothenburg who have taken the initiative to uplift women’s cricket. Malmö joined us later and have progressed quickly compared to other clubs”, says Gunjan Shukla. Once they played their first match, Gunjan approached Norway and Finland to play an international match series. It was Sweden’s first international appearance and the win against Norway was a big step forward to establish themselves on the international scene.
League cricket this year
Later in 2019, there was a Nordic championship where Sweden participated. Once they were declared champions, the fortunes changed for women’s cricket in Sweden. “It was a turning point for ladies’ cricket, from that point on, no one thought that we do not need a women’s team. We have set the landmark and hope to get more Swedish girls to play cricket. Milestone is set, and I am looking forward to having more teams”, says Gunjan Shukla.
It has now gone three years since ladies’ cricket first started in Sweden, but the number of matches ladies play is very few integral to men. During the 2021 season, ladies only played four tournaments whence two of them were indoor tournaments.
After several setbacks, she proposed the idea of a league for women to the sporting director of Swedish cricket, and he agreed. Subsequently, there will be a league structure for the ladies this year. The system does not differ from the men’s league. It consists of two leagues, one in each region and the top two teams will automatically qualify for the knockout stages.
“Even if the club does not have the required number of players for the game, we can merge and share players if the teams agree. This will give girls more opportunities and more game time which will improve their game in the long-term”, says Gunjan Shukla.
The clubs have to take more responsibility
Although the league was postponed due to the pandemic, she says that she is amazed by the decision to have a league. “There are few teams who focus on girls’ team and supporting ladies’ cricket”, says Gunjan Shukla.
Swedish cricket is on the rise. Gunjan suggests that now it is up to the clubs to take women’s cricket forward. “Unfortunately, I see that in the other clubs, girls do not play. I proposed to SCF that if girls want to raise their game, they must start playing with U-15 or U-19, which is completely different to beginners in the girls’ team. We also need to change the mindset; girls can perform on every platform. Now is the time we advertise women’s cricket as we are doing with men’s cricket.”
Photograph: Personal.
