There is a version of women’s sports at most universities that exists only on paper — a team listed in a brochure, a court that rarely sees a women’s match, a programme that survives on good intentions and not much else. And then there is what has been quietly happening at Ajeenkya DY Patil University.
The story of ADYPU’s women’s cricket team is not the story of a well-resourced programme that produced results. It is the story of five or six girls who showed up, thirty who followed, and a team that went from not existing to competing at the AIU — in a single academic year. That is not a small thing. That is the kind of story that defines a campus culture.
From Zero to AIU: The Cricket Team That Built Itself
Gauri, a second-year Film and Media student and professional cricketer, was in her first year at ADYPU when she realised there was no women’s cricket team. She was spotted during the Impetus box cricket tournament by a senior who connected her to Coach Sagar Apte. What followed was an effort that most people would have quietly abandoned.
Forms went around the campus. Slowly, thirty girls expressed interest. Trials were held. Fifteen were selected. And then the real challenge began — none of them had played with a season ball. Cricket on a tennis ball and cricket on a season ball are entirely different disciplines. The bounce, the pace, the weight — everything changes. Teaching fifteen girls from different schools, different years, and different athletic backgrounds to make that transition, while also building team cohesion, required a kind of patience and commitment that goes well beyond a coaching mandate.
Aditi, the team’s captain and a BCA graduate from the School of Engineering, describes the early days honestly: the first month had only five or six committed members, timing clashes were constant, and most of the girls — many of them first-years — were still finding their footing academically. Morning and evening practice sessions were introduced to work around lectures. Meetings were held. And the girls did not give up.
“From scratch to winning a trophy — that is what this team did. And every step of it was earned.”
At the AIU tournament, the team lost. They were playing the highest-level inter-university competition in the country, against teams with years of season-ball experience, in their very first outing as a unit. Coach Sagar Apte took them out in Jaipur afterwards — not to debrief, but to breathe. To remind them that what they had built in a few months was already something worth being proud of.
At the MIT tournament, they won. On a tennis ball, yes — but a win that belonged entirely to them.
A Coach Who Builds from the Ground Up
Coach Sagar Apte joined ADYPU in November 2024. In that time, he built a sports programme that now takes fourteen teams to AIU tournaments across disciplines — cricket, football, volleyball, basketball, kabaddi, kho kho, badminton, table tennis, athletics, and more. He created a campus-wide sports database by going class to class, circulating trial schedules over email, and putting QR codes across campus so students could join an ADYPU sports community and stay informed.
For women’s teams specifically, the investment has been consistent and practical. When attendance was at risk because of practice schedules clashing with lectures, he helped students draft leave applications and secure permissions from teachers and deans. When kit and equipment were lacking, he procured them. Season balls had to be repurchased repeatedly — he made sure they were there.
Sheetal Mam, Assistant Coach, worked directly with the women’s cricket team to sustain motivation through the toughest stretch of their preparation — the period when playing with a season ball felt impossible, and the team had not yet found its rhythm. Her role was as much about belief as it was about batting technique.
Gender Equity Is Not a Policy at ADYPU — It Is Practice
What makes ADYPU’s approach to women in sport notable is not a single policy or a grand announcement. It is the accumulation of practical decisions: two practice timings so no one is excluded by schedule, separate exam arrangements for tournament travel, permission support handled by the coaching staff, and a culture where a first-year student from the Film and Media school can end up as vice-captain of a cricket team that plays at national level.
The basketball girls’ team won second prize at the Ajeenkya Karandak Tournament hosted at the ADYPU government campus — a multi-sport event that saw the university’s volleyball boys take the first prize across league matches and a final. Women’s teams across kabaddi, volleyball, cricket, basketball, and kho kho all compete under the ADYPU banner with the same logistical support, the same access to coaching, and the same representation at inter-university events.
“At ADYPU, a girl who has never played season ball can show up, get selected, train for three months, and compete at the AIU. That possibility is real, and it is open.”
For any young woman who plays sport seriously — or wants to start — that is a university worth paying attention to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Does ADYPU have active women’s sports teams across disciplines?
- ADYPU fields active women’s teams in cricket, football, volleyball, basketball, kabaddi, kho kho, badminton, and table tennis, among others. These teams participate in inter-university competitions, including the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) tournaments, with full institutional support for travel, equipment, and scheduling.
Q2. What support does ADYPU provide to help women balance sport and academics?
- ADYPU offers morning and evening practice sessions to accommodate different lecture schedules, leave application support for tournament travel, separate examination arrangements for students competing during exam periods, and active involvement from coaching staff — including Coach Sagar Apte and Assistant Coach Sheetal Mam — in resolving attendance and scheduling challenges.
Q3. Can a student with no prior competitive experience join a women’s sports team at ADYPU?
- The ADYPU women’s cricket team is a direct example of this — the majority of players had no season-ball experience before joining, and the team went on to compete at the AIU within a single academic year. Trials are open to all students, and the coaching team actively encourages participation regardless of prior experience.