No doubt, the journey towards genuinely equal opportunities for women in sport has some way yet to go, both in England and in India. But the real progress made in recent years cannot be denied.
I recently had the privilege to attend the first ever women’s test match to take place at Lord’s. Many would say this historic first at the iconic cricket ground in St John’s Wood is long overdue. After all, women have been playing international cricket, including test matches, for decades.
This game between India and England at the home of cricket is a manifestation of greatly increased interest in women’s sport. On day two, the audience reached a record level of 15,243, beating the previous high for a women’s test match of 11,918 at Melbourne for the Women’s Ashes in 2025.
No doubt, the journey towards genuinely equal opportunities for women in sport has some way yet to go, both in England and in India. But the real progress made in recent years cannot be denied. Who would have thought that there would be men attending matches in India wearing shirts emblazoned with the names of female cricket stars? Yet this is no longer unusual.
The creation of the Women’s Premier League in 2023 transformed the professional landscape. Leading Indian players have become household names, major commercial brands now invest in women’s cricket. This means many more girls and their families can view cricket as a realistic career.
The prominence and success of players like Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues are an illustration of wider change in India.
From the foundation of the Republic of India in 1947, women have been fully enfranchised and they enjoy constitutional protection from discrimination. India was one of the first countries in the world to elect a woman Prime Minister.
But as in so many places, sometimes that equal status in law did not reflect the reality of the lives of women and girls. Now we see women advancing in all areas of life in India. Nowhere is this clearer than in education.
UNESCO figures show that female literacy has risen dramatically since Independence and millions more girls now complete secondary education.
This progress has been supported by Prime Minister Modi’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) initiative to empower women and girls and strengthen the respect and value with which they are treated.
Record numbers o f women are entering higher education in India. Women have become a majority of students in several university disciplines, and the country now produces large numbers of female doctors, engineers, scientists and lawyers.
In politics, the goal of more equal representation at the highest levels is hard to achieve (a fact that is true in Parliaments right across the world). But women are now strongly represented in local government in India. That should provide a good platform for greater female participation in national and state-level political roles as well.
Similarly, there is progress yet to be made in relation to women’s representation in higher paying jobs and professions, but increasing success in education should provide strong foundations for that advancement.
India has produced globally recognised female business leaders and entrepreneurs. Prominent examples include billionairesses Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chair of HCL Technologies and the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India; and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of global biopharmaceuticals enterprise, Biocon.
Companies in technology, finance and pharmaceuticals employ growing numbers of highly qualified women.
It would be naïve to downplay the hardship faced by women from low income communities in India. But the country’s outstanding economic success is lifting millions out of poverty and providing an unprecedent level of opportunity to women.
In India, there is a saying: “Yatra naryastu pujyante, ramante tatra devata“, which means, “Where women are honoured, divinity resides”. This recent test match between India and England at Lord’s provides a welcome opportunity for the two countries to celebrate our enduring friendship; our mutual love of cricket; and our determination to champion equal opportunities and life chances for women.
*The Right Honourable Dame Theresa Villiers DBE, was MP from 2005 to 2024 and is former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
