For a few fleeting seconds, Abhishek Nayar, was a bit confused when asked about his new experience as the coach of a women's team. Four games into his new role, the UP Warriorz head coach wasn't sure whether to be honest or diplomatic. He chose one of the two lines, or probably something in between, and said, "I'm wrapping my head around it.

"A lot of coaches that I spoke to before taking up this job told me, listen, be direct. In men's cricket, sometimes, because you worked with them for a long time, there is that trust. So, you say a certain thing; if you say, listen, go over covers, they will know which ball to do it to, how to do it. In women's cricket, the attention to detail is a little more."

A bit cautiously, mindful of the words he was uttering, he continued, "Sometimes you need to sort of break it down in a lot of ways and it's not as obvious as you think it is. Sometimes you just think it's going to happen, it doesn't. So, I feel it's a more hands-on job. I'm also teaching myself every day that, listen, Abhishek, open your mouth, talk. Sometimes you have to do it and they're so receptive to it, it's amazing."

It's uncertain if he was pointing to a very specific instance or offering a general example, but it's interesting that this experience for Nayar has come while leading a team which has fielded a line-up of all internationals, except Shweta Sehrawat (several of them have even won World Cups).

It's understandable that for someone who has had to switch roles between men's and women's cricket, the difference would be stark. But Nayar's experience has been wide ranging. He has spent time with the international men's team, an IPL side, spent over two decades being part of Mumbai cricket, and then even spent some time in a newly-developing cricket setup in Puducherry. He has mentored players like Angkrish Raghuvanshi from his pre-teens to experienced cricketers like KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik midway through their international careers.

So for someone with Nayar's experience to be taken aback by this novelty is a bit surprising, but also equally reflective of a larger gulf in the cricketing pathways for men and women.

What surprises Abhishek about the 'when' and 'how' of the 'go over covers' instruction is a reflection of the absence of quality gametime (and possibly even the standard of coaching) through the entire length of the pathway - starting from school cricket. While boys aspiring to be professional cricketers would get opportunities to be playing cricket round the year, girls cricket would be limited to one or two tournaments in a year - if at all.

Similarly, even those girls who are part of district level cricket in most states in India, could get approximately only 10-12 competitive matches to play. The lack of club cricket for girls in non-metro cities has as much to do with the lack of tournaments as to with the lack of families allowing their daughters to pursue the sport competitively. For all the growing popularity of women's cricket, even outside the stigma of indulging in an 'un-womanly' activity, the social factors that dissuade young girls from participating in sports at the grassroots are plenty. In a country where the fairness cream market is estimated to be INR 5000 crore, skin tanning is still a massive detriment to marriage prospects. Moreover, the expected time to spend at home are also heavy. In household chores, on an average, Indian women spend more than 300 minutes daily (almost 10 times that of men). Lack of participation leads to lack of matches as well as competition for these talented cricketers.

It's no surprise thus that most cricketers who make it to the national team are standout talents and get sucked into the higher levels at very young ages. immediately.

Here's a brief look at the ages when the Indian cricketers from the World Cup winning XI made their international debuts:

Smriti Mandhana - 16

Shafali Verma - 15

Jemimah Rodrigues - 17

Harmanpreet Kaur - 20

Richa Ghosh - 16

Deepti Sharma - 17

Amanjot Kaur - 22

Radha Yadav - 17

Kranti Goud - 21

Shree Charani - 20

Renuka Thakur - 25

In India, especially, these talented cricketers are identified early and elevated to the higher levels in a short span. It's at the international or the WPL level where these learnings will happen, which for men would have happened at the domestic - or probably even school and club level. And so will the mistakes. Their women counterparts will end up lacking the cricket smarts of their male counterparts playing at a similar level, often on live television, in front of packed audiences while representing their countries.

As a result, they often end up making the kind of mistakes which may seem amateurish for those whose only context to cricket has been of observing the sports through the lens of able-bodied men with clear vision.

Nayar admitted that the early days as the coach of a women's team has not been easy, but there is a silver lining: the players are willing to learn.

"In men's cricket, you have to be very [mindful of] what you are saying, what you are not saying. In women's cricket, they're very receptive. So you can actually talk to them, you can get into those details. But trust takes time and I'm working around that.

"But when Harleen [incident of retired out] and these things happen and things come out, it becomes harder for me. [This role] It's different, it's fun, it's challenging, it's testing me in every which way and sort of preparing me for the IPL also in a different way, but I would say it's not been easy."