Last five years have seen significant progress in women's cricket, says Star India Sports Head

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 15 (ANI): As the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday released the full schedule for the Women's Cricket World Cup 2022, Star Sports India Head, Sanjog Gupta said that women's cricket has seen significant progress over the last five years.
The Basin Reserve in Wellington and the Hagley Oval in Christchurch will host the semi-finals of the Women's 50-over World Cup in 2022 with the latter also set to host the final under lights on April 3, 2022. An opening match at Tauranga's Bay Oval and a final under lights at Hagley Oval are two of the highlights of a 31-match schedule announced on Tuesday for ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022. The pinnacle event for women's cricket will see 31 matches played across 31 action-packed days between March 4 - April 3, 2022.
Speaking about Star India's commitment to women's cricket in the country, Sanjog Gupta in an official release said: "At Star India, we have worked towards building a more inclusive sports ecosystem in the country, one which encourages women to compete at the highest level, watch as fans, participate at the grassroots level and work behind the scenes to deliver our broadcasts."
"The last five years have seen significant progress in women's Cricket and the recent success of the Women's T20 challenge is an indicator of the same. We at Star India are proud to be associated with women's cricket and are delighted to have contributed to its growth. The growing prominence of women's cricket and showcasing of Cricketers' journeys serve as an inspiration to young girls and encourages them to pick up the sport," he added.
The much-anticipated Hagley Oval lights were switched on for the first time by Deputy Prime Minister, Grant Robertson at the announcement, with key Canterbury Cricket Trust, Canterbury Cricket Association, and Christchurch city representatives in attendance. New Zealand veteran and Canterbury Magicians representative Amy Satterthwaite attended the announcement at Hagley Oval.
Mithali Raj, captain of India's ODI team is looking forward to leading her team to a win at the World Cup. India will play their first match of the tournament on March 6, 2022, against a qualifier which will be determined later.
"Continuing our commitment to building women heroes for the country, Star Sports will have an exciting line-up of content leading up to the upcoming ICC Women's World Cup and will present the tournament in multiple languages with an exciting line-up of surround programming including Cricket Live. The broadcast of the ICC Women's World Cup has grown leaps and bounds. The 2017 ICC Women's World Cup final, one of the highest-rated sporting events of that year with a cumulative reach of 95mn, is testament to the growing fandoms for women's cricket in India," said Gupta.
The Women's World Cup was postponed from its original window in February to March 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the same six host cities and venues have been retained for 2022. The first match of the tournament will be played between New Zealand and a qualifier on March 4, 2022.
Christchurch will host the final on April 3 under lights at Hagley Oval on the back of three pool matches and a semi-final. New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa, and India have qualified for the World Cup. The three remaining teams will emerge from the ICC qualifying tournament which is confirmed to take place June 26 - July 10, 2021, in Sri Lanka. (ANI)