India, Feb. 7 -- What began as a community cricket tournament to mark the end of the farming season has quietly turned into a platform for women farmers to step into leadership roles in rural Pune.A farmers' cricket tournament, organised as the concluding event of the CybageAsha Paddy Cup in Bhor and Velhe (now Rajgad) talukas, has shown how sports can drive social change by giving women visibility, confidence and a public voice, said organisers.

This year, the tournament saw participation from 35 men's teams and 40 women's teams, reflecting a shift in traditional rural dynamics as women increasingly moved beyond household and farm work into public spaces, they said. For many women farmers, it was their first experience of organised spor...