From a group of five in 2020, the Sarvashreshtha Cricket Club has grown into a full blown outfit of 265 passionate women cricketers. And they’re just getting started
Members of the Sarvashreshtha Cricket Club after a grueling practice session at Play The Turf, Malad
The sound of leather on willow echoes across the field, emboldened by cries of encouragement as two games play out in two adjoining pitches. On each, a male coach stands in the middle of the action, while the players—all women—give it everything they have got. The teams are surrounded by more women, proud fellow members of the Goregaon-based Sarvashreshtha Cricket Club.
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As an over finishes and bats change hands, Mayura Amarkant, 46, turns her bat over to another player and walks up to meet this writer. Smile in place, the sweat-soaked mother of two is not out of breath. Twice a week, on Wednesday evening and Saturday morning, members of the club come together to practice, turning this from a ragtag group of strangers into a community. At the heart of the action is Amarkant, its founder and driving force.
From a small group of five friends, the Sarvashreshtha Cricket Club has become a community of 265 members over the last two years. The all-women cricket club is the brainchild of Mayura Amarkant, a digital marketing and public relations professional, who took up the sport to understand her husband Amarkant Jain’s love for cricket and soon became passionate about it. Pics/Shadab Khan
Curiously, her love for the game stems from once being exasperated at her husband, Amarkant Jain’s love for cricket. The Goregaon-based couple offer digital marketing services to clients and the L-shaped couch in their living room often doubles up as their work space. One of the most played out scenes here is she typing away on her laptop and Jain cheering players on the television screen.
“The man is married to cricket,” she chuckles. “And I would be at a total loss. Once, I tried to bridge the gap by asking Amarkant how many goals his favourite team had scored, earning a wrathful look in return.” In mid-2019, she asked her husband, a popular cricketer at a local club, to teach her the game. For months, he was her teacher. It was then that she met Deeya Sanghvi, Namrata Gala, Dr Shrutika Tawari, and Meghna Gala, all frequent visitors to the club. Their willingness to learn led them to gravitate towards each other and soon, they were playing regularly.
Mayura and her husband Amarkant Jain, who was her first coach and continues to be one for the Club
In 2020, Amarkant played her first practice match with another club at the Citimall Turf in Andheri, and gave away 18 runs as wide balls while bowling. “This was just days after I’d won a national level award in digital marketing and public relations. This crushing defeat on field came as a reality check. Playing inside a club with my husband as coach was one thing. I needed practice before I could call myself a cricketer,” she recalls.
That’s how the Sarvashreshtha Cricket Club was born. Over the next few weeks, she and her four co-founders sent out WhatsApp messages by the dozen, inviting likeminded women and coaches who’d agree to mentor. Meanwhile, slots were booked at various turfs in the city, with Chetan Bagde, a two-time winner of the Maharashtra Gaurav award, coaching them.
Avani Soni Zaveri, Mamta Gajria and Prerna Parwani
As word spread and enthusiasts started to get in touch, the tribe grew. First, the women would come and watch the members. Then, they’d join in. While the sessions had to be suspended during the lockdowns, they resumed practice in earnest last year. Today, the club boasts of 265 members; the youngest is an indefatigable 12-year-old and the oldest is a sprightly 70-year-old, who has laid down an open challenge; she will dedicate her recently earned award to any coach who teaches her how to hit a sixer.
Avani Soni Zaveri credits the club with helping her overcome personal anguish and improving mental health. She suffered a personal loss recently, and the support from fellow club members and the discipline that the game had brought to her routine has helped her cope. “I am already a good bowler. I want to be a great batter,” she tells us.
Mamta Gajria used to play when in college, but lost touch after she was married. Amarkant’s WhatsApp invitation changed everything. “Sarvashreshtha has given me my youth back. Outside this pitch, I am a wife, mother, daughter-in-law, an employee…In here, I am the young girl who used to love cricket!”
For all the sisterhood, Sarvashreshtha is strict about rules. No gossip, no politics. Those not actively participating will be removed from the WhatsApp group. And nothing comes for free. Even the T-shirts given to the players have to be earned. For each achievement they accomplish, they get a new tee.
The Club has its own inspirations, like 57-year-old Prerna Parwani, a marathon runner for eight years, who took up cricket for the challenge. “I needed something new to learn. I had never played cricket before and my running takes up a lot of my time. Despite everything, I find myself looking forward to the bi-weekly sessions. I have mastered the basics and I hope I can start hitting fours and sixes soon!”
Amarkant is the glue that holds all of them together. She added the Woman of the Match award to her achievements after she took three wickets in a mixed gender match held in Thane in November 2022.
We ask her what’s next, and she smiles, “We’re just getting started.”
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