Shantha Rangaswamy was India’s first women’s Test captain, the first Indian woman to score a Test hundred and the first captain to lead India to a women’s Test win. An all-rounder who batted in the top order and bowled medium pace, she was at the centre of the side from its first official Test in 1976 and later became one of the game’s most respected voices off the field.
Name: Shantha Rangaswamy (also spelt Shanta) | Born: 1 January 1954, Madras (now Chennai) | Sport: Cricket | Position: Right-handed batter, right-arm medium-pace bowler
Bangalore and the first Test
Rangaswamy was born in Madras and is most closely linked with Bangalore, where she later built her working life. Women’s cricket in India had only recently been organised on a national basis when the country was granted official Test status, and she was the obvious choice to lead the team. India’s first women’s Test began on 31 October 1976 against West Indies in Bangalore. Rangaswamy captained the side and scored 74 on debut, a confident start to a long home series.
Patna and a first Test win
The six-match series against West Indies ran across the country, and in November 1976 India won the Test at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna. It was the first Test victory by an Indian women’s team, and the series finished level at 1-1. Rangaswamy finished the series with 381 runs at an average of 42.33, carrying much of the batting while also bowling her share of overs. For a team in its first official season, winning a Test and holding a touring side level over six matches was a notable achievement, and one that took years to be properly recognised.
A hundred in Dunedin
Early in 1977 India toured New Zealand, and at Carisbrook in Dunedin Rangaswamy scored 108. The innings, completed on 8 January 1977, made her the first Indian woman to score a Test century. It came away from home, against a different attack in different conditions, and it showed that her batting could travel. She captained India in eight Tests across the 1976-77 season.
Captain again in the 1980s
Rangaswamy continued to play through the late 1970s and into the 1980s as India’s women’s programme grew. She was one of the senior players when India began playing one-day internationals, and she led the side in 16 ODIs between the 1981-82 and 1983-84 seasons. Her best one-day performances came at the 1982 World Cup in New Zealand, where she made her only ODI fifty and took her best figures of three for 25 against the International XI. She returned to the Test captaincy for four matches in 1983-84, giving her 12 Tests in charge overall.
As a bowler she was steady rather than spectacular, moving the ball at medium pace and bowling long spells when needed. Her best Test figures were four for 42 against England. She played her last Test in 1991, giving her an international career that stretched across 15 years.
Writer, banker and administrator
Away from the field Rangaswamy built a long career with Canara Bank, rising to General Manager in the Bangalore region. She has also written about the game for many years and has worked as a coach and as a national selector for the women’s team, including a spell as chair of selectors. In October 2019 she became the first Indian woman to represent the Indian Cricketers’ Association on the BCCI’s Apex Council, a seat that gave former players a direct say in how the board was run.
Recognition
She received the Arjuna Award in 1976, the year she led India in their first Test. Four decades later, in 2017, she became the first recipient of the BCCI’s Lifetime Achievement Award for women, an honour that came as the national women’s team was attracting far bigger audiences than her own generation had known. Her record remains the starting point for any history of Indian women’s Test cricket: first captain, first win, first hundred.
Career record and honours
- Tests: 16 matches, 750 runs, average 32.60, 1 hundred, 6 fifties, highest score 108; 21 wickets at 31.61, best 4/42 v England
- One-day internationals: 19 matches, 287 runs, average 15.10, 1 fifty; 12 wickets at 29.41, best 3/25 v International XI (1982 World Cup)
- Captain in India’s first women’s Test, v West Indies, Bangalore, 31 October 1976
- Captained India in 12 Tests (8 in 1976-77, 4 in 1983-84) and 16 ODIs
- Led India to their first women’s Test win, v West Indies, Patna, November 1976
- First Indian woman to score a Test hundred: 108 v New Zealand, Dunedin, January 1977
- Arjuna Award: 1976
- BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for women (first recipient): 2017
- First Indian woman to represent the Indian Cricketers’ Association on the BCCI Apex Council: 2019
