Here's another interesting one.
I’m a cricket tragic, and a dad. This statistic saddens me
ByNikhil Kulkarni
November 18, 2025 — 11.00am
Seven years ago, a young couple, filled with enthusiasm about setting up their new home in Australia, boarded a one-way flight from India. One a cricket tragic and the other, not so much. The tragic, of course, was me. One of the few things I brought from India was a used leather ball from my school days.
On our very first weekend here, my wife joined me on a pilgrimage to Bowral, home of Sir Don Bradman. She may not quite understand how a game can last five days and still end in a draw, but she’s always supported my cricket obsession with good humour and generosity. Cricket has underpinned my whole life. It has shaped friendships, sparked debates, and has now become a platform for my ambitions for our daughters. Together with my wife, I nurse a quiet dream that one day they’ll wear the green and gold for Australia.
Last summer, my six-year-old daughter Neeti and I participated in the Daughters and Dads Cricket program at the Cricket NSW facility in Silverwater, Sydney. Developed by Professor Philip Morgan at the University of Newcastle, the program mixes cricket skills with playful activities that get dads and daughters moving together.
Research shows it lifts skills, boosts engagement, and makes it far more likely girls will stay in the game. My daughter loved the program. She learned to bowl and play a neat pull shot, but the real win was watching her grow more confident and resilient. Since then, most weekends we play in the backyard — and she’s already asking to join cricket practice this summer. I couldn’t be happier.
My daughters will have my full support in whatever sport they choose, for as long as they want to play. But what I see in my backyard isn’t the norm. Across Australia, girls are leaving sport long before their teens. It’s like being given out before even taking guard — losing the chance to build the confidence, skills, and leadership that shape success in sport and in life.
A 2023 Deloitte study found 85 per cent of women leaders say playing sport was essential to their career success. Yet the numbers for girls’ participation tell a different story. The Australian Sports Commission 2024 reports only 36 per cent of girls aged 0-14 play organised sport outside school each week.
Flinders University research shows girls drop out of sport in their teens at far higher rates than boys. In cricket, a favourite in Australia’s multicultural communities, especially those from South Asia, just 25,000 girls aged 5-12 play. One would imagine that figure to be far higher, given how deeply cricket runs through these communities. Cricket Australia’s goal is to lift that to 100,000 by 2034. If we don’t act now, too many girls will miss their shot at success.
However, all is not lost. There are bright spots — like Rajesh Kumar from Bella Vista, Sydney. A leader in the technology sector and an active voice in the Australia-India community, his proudest title shines on LinkedIn as “Kaya’s dad”. His posts capture his daughter’s rise through NSW girls’ cricket and his steady support behind it. At only 12, Kaya was selected for the NSW Under-19 Schoolgirls team. She piled up more than 500 runs in eight matches at an average of 257.8 and holds the record for the longest sixes hit by a female player in senior formats.
While she enjoys smashing opposition bowlers to the boundary, Kaya says what has mattered most is building resilience and learning from failures along the way. For Rajesh, whether it’s a duck or a century, what’s important is that Kaya knows he’s in her corner. We definitely need more Kayas in Australia lighting up our scoreboards and going on to become successful leaders later in their lives. But more than that we need more dads and dad figures like Rajesh to step up right now.
This cricket season, don’t just be the driver or the cheer squad. Be her teammate. Play with her, and let that support be the start of something much bigger than the game.
Nikhil Kulkarni works in technology and is an avid cricket fan, now keen to see his daughters take up the game. He is the author of the newly launched book, My Summer of Cricket. More at mysummerofcricket.com
