GoSports Foundation Selects 15 Female Cricketers for its Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme

First-of-its-kind in the country, the Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme is a holistic athlete support programme for the women's cricket ecosystem in India

Bengaluru, 13th March 2023: The Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme (EHCEP) is a holistic athlete support programme conceptualised to aid and empower young women from across the country aspiring to make professional careers in cricket and transform the sport into a vehicle for social, cultural, and economic change for women in India. The programme will be implemented by GoSports Foundation, with FDC Limited and Brigade Group Foundation coming aboard as the Launch Partner and Associate Partner to the programme, respectively.

The programme’s design is based on the learnings from the Equal Hue cricket survey and report, authored by Snehal Pradhan, former India pacer turned cricket commentator, and now Manager – Women’s Cricket at the ICC; alongside Karunya Keshav, and the late Sidhanta Patnaik, co-authors of the book ‘The Fire Burns Blue – A history of women’s cricket in India’. The report comprehensively analyses the Indian women’s cricket ecosystem and offers suggestions on making tangible improvements to the same.

The programme offers a comprehensive range of support services to its carefully chosen cohort of beneficiaries, including training and development, mentorship, legal support for commercial engagements, advice on media management and public relations, career guidance, knowledge-building workshops and seminars, and on-ground research.

During the last six months, GoSports Foundation has carried out its comprehensive five-step selection process, worked with observers in the women’s cricket ecosystem, identified the cohort of athletes to be supported under the programme, and facilitated an interaction event to understand the detailed sporting needs of the selected athletes.

Finally, after much consideration, two weeks ago, on the eve of the inaugural Women’s Premier League, the first batch of 15 athletes were formally announced and inducted into the Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme on March 1, 2023. All aged between 16 to 23, the athletes will receive holistic support over the next year.

With the excitement around women’s cricket in India reaching a crescendo thanks the to the WPL, GoSports Foundation is pleased to announce that two of the Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme players are involved in the competition. Shweta Sehrawat and Titas Sadhu, both part of India’s successful Under-19 T20 World Cup campaign, are part of the UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals squads, respectively.

They will be joined in the first batch of players by 13 others, including:

Over the course of a two-day event in Mumbai, on March 1 and 2, 2023, as a way to introduce the programme and bring the athletes together, educational interactions were conducted by some of the experts who have worked closely with the Foundation over the years - John Gloster, Director of Sports Science – GoSports Foundation; Sharda Ugra, senior journalist who has covered a wide range of Indian sports; and Krushmi Chheda, official nutritionist of the Rajasthan Royals; Shriyanka Sadangi, International sports shooter supported by GoSports Foundation since 2017, spoke about her sporting journey with the Foundation, and Deepthi Bopaiah, CEO – GoSports Foundation addressed the athletes as well. Physical assessments were also conducted for the athletes by experts.

Speaking about the initiative, Deepthi Bopaiah, CEO of GoSports Foundation said: “The Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme is a very important programme for us. Cricket is a sport that is deeply engrained in our nation’s fabric, and we are excited at the opportunity to contribute to the journeys of India’s next generation of female cricketers while aligning the programme’s objectives with Goal 5 – Gender Equality of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We would like to thank Brigade Foundation and FDC Limited for demonstrating their faith in the tenets of the programme and are confident that the support provided by the programme will enable these talented athletes become not only elite cricketers, but also national role models who can help create a more inclusive sporting ecosystem for women in India.”

Speaking on her inclusion into the programme, Mithila Vinod said: “I am extremely grateful to GoSports Foundation to be selected as a part of the Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme. I am confident that the holistic support system provided by the programme will enable me to achieve my maximum potential and help me develop as a person and as a sportsperson. The workshops were immensely useful for me, teaching me about facets such as sports science, media management, and injury management.”

Speaking after the conclusion of the athlete interaction sessions on March 2, Kashvee Gautam said: “I am delighted to be a part of the Equal Hue Cricket Excellence Programme and would like to thank GoSports Foundation for extending this opportunity to me. Every athlete dreams of bringing home laurels for the country and I believe this programme will give me the platform to achieve this dream. I would also like to thank the experts for their informative sessions over the last few days, which covered a range of essential topics that are part of an elite athlete’s life brand management.”

The programme reiterates the commitment of GoSports Foundation, FDC Limited, and the Brigade Group, to promote sports and support emerging athletes in India. With initiatives like EHCEP, they are creating a talent pathway for young athletes to succeed in the highly competitive world of professional sports and bring laurels to India.

About GoSports Foundation

GoSports Foundation, which will implement the programme, is a National Sports Award (Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar) winning not-for-profit trust established in 2008, working towards the development of some of India's most talented emerging and elite athletes across a plethora of sporting disciplines. The Foundation has thus far supported 16 Olympians and 27 Paralympians, including 10 Paralympic medallists.

For further information, please contact –

Ananya Upendran | Programme Lead

[email protected]

Arnav Rathna | Sr. Associate - Partnerships and Communications

[email protected] | +91-8301082927