Anjum Chopra pens book on women''s cricket

New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) Struggling to make a mark, thedifficulties of women cricketers have been penned down in abook titled ''Women''s Cricket World'' and co-author, formerIndia captain Anjum Chopra, feels this will help raise theprofile of the sport.

"I hope this book can help in raising the standard ofwomen''s cricket across the world. Now that even ICC is takingsteps to promote women''s cricket, I feel this will go a longway in establishing some sort of a connect," said the33-year-old cricketer, who has played in six World Cups forIndia.

Anjum said the book, co-written by Rajesh Kalra and SunilKalra, was a result of a lot of hard work and it is a matterof celebration that women''s cricket has been talked about atlength for the first time.

"The book needed a lot of hard work. It was extensivelyresearched for the last six years. But it is also acelebration as this is the first in the world to be talkingabout women''s cricket. Individual players have shared theirexperiences, their pictures and their thoughts over it."

When asked about the challenges, women cricketersgenerally face, Anjum said, "Women''s cricket is still not verywidely accepted across the globe, while men''s cricket is sopopular and so hyped. I agree that they deserve all theaccolades but when it comes to women''s cricket it still raisesa lot of eyebrows. Acceptability is still an issue and womencricketers are fighting for their own space."

But Anjum, who began her career in 1995, also admittedthat a lot of change has come in since she first started but alot more needs to be done.

"It is now looking brighter and better. Women''s cricketin India started almost 30-40 years ago and I started playingabout 15 years back. From where it was then till today it hasdefinitely improved," said the veteran cricketer, who hasplayed 12 Tests and 116 ODIs. .