VISAKHAPATNAM: Women of the city have got a big match on hand. It's time for them to pad up, don the batting gloves and get ready to face `charming' in-swingers from a pretty woman.

In a telephonic interview here on Friday, Mandira Bedi, who made many jaws drop with her fours and sixes in the Extra Innings slot during the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004, confirmed that she would be here on September 17 to play Gully Cricket with girls and housewives. Terming this a promotional event for the ICC Champions Trophy that was scheduled to commence from October 7 in India, she said: "Cricket needs no promotion among men. The idea is to promote the game among women, especially housewives and girls."

So it's time that bricks become stumps, shopkeepers become wicket-keepers and balconies become galleries. She will be here with her maidens, the naughty Sameer Khan, the adorable mascot of Set Max- Tiger Deewana, and the crew of Sony television. The matches will be hosted at pre-identified gullies and will be captured on the camera by the crew.

National passion

"They will be telecast in capsules by Set Max during the tournament," she added. Mandira Bedi also pointed out that cricket was much more than a game. "It has become the national passion and it reflects the Indian spirit. And our idea is to prove that it is no more the men's domain," she asserted. Speaking on the concept, she said: "Haven't we all grown up playing cricket on the street? Didn't we all have our special rules of catching and bowling? I'm glad that MAX has again given me the opportunity to be able to go out and play cricket with all of you. And by all of you I mean the lovely women, too, who have shown in the previous years that they can be quite a handful on the cricket pitch. Come, let's show men again that the streets belong to us!"

On her tryst with cricket and the heroes of the game, she said: "It was a dream come true. I was speechless when the offer had first come to me. I was a keen enthusiast of the game from childhood. When I face the cricketing icons I pinch myself to confirm that I am not dreaming."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail