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Male cricketers have flaunted their babies at retirements and at landmark games. Women's cricket has kept it authentic, bringing the baby to work in a country where the Prime Minister has pretty much taken hers to Parliament, and then putting in a hard day at play. Cricket — the men’s version of the game — has for long defined all-rounder to mean someone who bats and bowls with proficiency. None of them have ever had to think of a baby-break in their careers, or feeding times and anxiety about who’s looking after the infant while they pile wickets and runs. Pakistan women’s captain Bismah Maroof had to not just factor in all that, but also consider if she could afford a travelling nanny for her eight-month-old baby Fatima, when she resumed captaincy of the team ahead of the World Cup. Since she couldn’t, she wrapped up the baby, pram in tow, and went to New Zealand to do her job as the nation’s captain. Things on the field might not have gone to plan, a 107-run-defeat ensued despite triggering a mini collapse, but rivals India were left weak-kneed as they gathered around Baby Fatima post-match. Selfies followed.
India and Pakistan cricketers have always maintained cordial relations on the sidelines of their face-off. Even politicians on both sides are aware that cricketers carry an aura which glows brighter than narrow nationalistic spiels. But what melted a million hearts on Sunday was the viral videos of Indians with Baby Fatima from the Bay Oval – and a shared pride that a woman from the subcontinent was going ahead and resuming her playing career, in cricket, no less, after childbirth.
Cricket dressing rooms — often associated with male cricketers punching glasses and breaking doors and flinging bats in frustration — can now be places for baby babble after a game well played. Male cricketers have flaunted their babies at retirements and at landmark games. Women’s cricket has kept it authentic, bringing the baby to work in a country where the Prime Minister has pretty much taken hers to Parliament, and then putting in a hard day at play.
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