An innings with Sumathi Iyer, India’s first woman umpire

So, what’s my story?
What started as a childhood game with my brothers, became an integral part of my life. eat, drink, breathe and dream cricket. It goes back to the ‘70s when women’s cricket was just beginning to raise its head and my father did not approve of me going out to play in pants! I was a tomboy and preferred cricket to anything else — both at school and college.

We were the pioneers, Shantha Rangaswamy, Diana Eduljee, Sudha Shah and Fowziah Khalilee. We represented Madras University and won the National championship in the ‘70s. Shantha was a tremendous captain and could steer a thrilling victory from a virtual defeat by her motivation and game strategies. It did not take long for recognition to come and soon many players were recruited by the Railways and Air India. I joined Canara Bank under their sports quota and am still there.

Women’s cricket — then and now
Cricket is a man’s game but that’s not to say that women shouldn’t play it. Today’s scenario is much better and the girls should be able to play good cricket. During our time, we had to make arrangements for the bat and ball ourselves and as if that wasn’t enough, we often paid for our tickets for the various matches.