The ABC International Development team recently connected with an incredible group of women in sports media in India as part of an ABC WINS program.

ABC Women in News and Sport (WINS) is a fantastic initiative run by the ABC as a training and mentoring program that provides women journalists in the Pacific and Asia with the tools to carve out a career in the male-dominated world of sports media.

The team were in Delhi last week working with some amazing women from all over India who are working or aspiring to work in the sports media industry with the common ground of cricket bringing everyone together.

Get to meet some of these awesome media stars, content creators and up and comers and be sure to follow them for all your cricket coverage for the upcoming Australia vs India Series!

Rupha Ramani

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My story

I’ve been a Sports Broadcaster and journalist for around eighteen years. I started out as a sports reporter with CNN IBN, before moving on to becoming a cricket live producer and commentary producer with Star Sports. I launched India’s first regional sports broadcast channel, headed digital content with IPL teams Chennai Super Kings & Gujarat Titans. Now I am a Sports Editor and Presenter with FirstPost, a digital platform of Network18. I’ve donned various roles of reporter, writer, producer, presenter and editorial lead across legacy organisations and am hoping to make the transition to commentary. 

Having played professional tennis for a long while, sports is what I see myself being involved in forever. The thrill of telling a good story has always been a huge driving force. I love bringing the audience closer to heroes and star players they only have watched on TV screens. Decoding, analysing and giving a fresh perspective to a mere scoreline is someone I enjoy doing. 

Australia v India – thoughts?

Any contest between India and Australia in cricket is exciting. After India’s disappointing outing against Australia in the last series, the underlying story of a fightback and that too away, in the most challenging conditions, is something to look forward to. Eager to see some of the best in Gardner, Healy, Litchfield, Perry take on India’s talented seniors – Harmanpreet, Mandhana and some youngsters like Shreyanka, Richa to shine. 

Mona Parthsarathi 

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My Story

I am working with the Press Trust of India for the last 24 years. I have covered hockey and cricket in India and abroad. I have been a member of the ICC awards jury twice and won the best sports journalist of the year award too.

Earlier I was a political reporter but I chose sports to do positive journalism. I love to tell positive stories and sports is a beautiful medium to weave those stories about players and the game. It is so wonderful to see how it connects you with your readers/audiences instantly.

Manasi Pathak

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My Story

I am a freelance sports journalist, featured in Al Jazeera English, Forbes SportsMoney, Reuters and more. I write on football, cricket, tennis and all other major sports news.

I am passionate about the intersection of sports and gender, culture and business. I also try to focus on the coverage of women’s sports and women in sport. 

Karishma Singh

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My Story

I’m an India-based broadcast journalist working as Sports Editor with TIMES NOW – India’s leading English news network. I have covered the cricket World Cup in 2019, 2023 and 2024 – where India won and I was the only woman journalist from India who travelled to Guyana and Barbados for it. I have also covered Olympics – Tokyo 2021 in the peak of Covid-19 and the Paris Olympics. 

I’m passionate that it gives me a chance to travel the world and see how sport can bring countries and cultures together. I aim to do stories that make impact on an athletes life and helps them do better.

Niharika Raina 

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My Story

Primarily I report on developments around men’s and women’s cricket for Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), including on-ground reportage, analysis, features and interviews. I aim to do a bit of commentary and digital cricket content creation in future.

My passion is to tell soul-filling and impactful stories which go beyond the usual in the cricketing ecosystem – in both on and off field developments. 

Thoughts on Australia vs India?

It marks the start of the fine-tuning road for both teams ahead of the big 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup in India. Australia are the defending champions, while India have been the team who have pushed them the most across all formats. The sub-plots of who are the players shaping up as the trump cards for both teams makes this series a very exciting prospect. 

Neha Shetty

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My Story

I am a freelance sports journalist and content creator with a strong focus on women’s cricket. My work has been featured in publications like Women’s CricInsight and Female Cricket. I have collaborated with organisations such as cricket.com, Ting, Kadamba Technologies, CoLLearn, SunRisers Hyderabad and Mad About Sports in various capacities.

I also host an audio podcast and YouTube channel called ‘Never on the Backfoot’ that highlights not just mainstream cricket but also women’s cricket widely. With a passion for promoting women’s cricket, I aim to elevate the visibility of women’s cricket through my work in the sports media landscape.”

“I am passionate about amplifying the voices and stories of women in cricket. I believe that sports media has the power to challenge stereotypes and foster inclusivity, making it essential to highlight the achievements and struggles of female cricketers. My commitment lies in creating content that not only informs but also inspires and empowers.

I’m dedicated to showcasing the skill, dedication, and resilience of women in cricket, using storytelling as a tool to engage audiences and encourage greater support for women’s cricket at all levels, from domestic to international competitions.

Thoughts on Australia v India?

I am eagerly anticipating the upcoming series between India and Australia as it promises to be a thrilling contest showcasing some of the best talents in the game.

With both teams having a rich history and a fierce rivalry, I’m excited to see how they match up against each other in this series. I’m also eager to see the strategies each team employs, especially in terms of spin versus pace, as conditions can significantly impact performance.

Additionally, the series will be a great opportunity for emerging players to showcase their talent on an international stage.

Lavanya Lakshminarayanan

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My Story

I am a reporter and multimedia producer with Sportstar, a fortnightly sports magazine and web portal based in India. I enjoy following women’s sports, especially football and cricket, and also cover kabaddi and para sports. I enjoy learning about the makings of an athlete and try to make those stories accessibly to audiences across different consumption styles. Video production, podcasting, and social media curation are some of my key areas of work. In my free time, I love spending time with my dog and cat. You’re likely to find me with earphones on almost all the time, either trying out new recipes, complaining about working out, binge-watching shows online, or buying books I most likely won’t be able to make time to read. 

I enjoy focussing on the intersection of sports and society in my pieces. My area of speciality is human interest features and profiling. I have built up my nascent career in sports journalism with a dedicated focus on the women’s vertical in cricket particularly. I am also passionate about stories emerging from the para sports ecosystem around the world and the role the media can play in improving all these spheres. Producing stories across various media forms (text, video, audio) is what I specialise in. 

Thoughts on Australia vs India?

Both the Indian and the Australian side finds itself in different stages of transition. I am looking forward to how those evolutionary effects keep running when the sides face their fiercest rivals in the three-ODI series. India has shown remarkable resilience when playing overseas and with an ODI World Cup at home coming up, its selections and decision-making will be interesting to keep an eye on. 

Toral Contractor

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My Story

I am starting my career in Sports Media, with a focus on becoming a content specialist, particularly in cricket. My goal is to create engaging content that deepens my knowledge of the game while connecting with fans, players and stakeholders. I aim to explore diverse perspectives, especially around women’s cricket and bring their stories to digital platforms. I aspire to highlight the role of women in sports, offering fresh narratives and contributing meaningfully to the sports media landscape.

I enjoy creating digital content and I have recently begun exploring cricket as a sport of focus. As a media professional, I enjoy the process of developing ideas, conducting content research, interviews and producing multimedia content. In one of my previous roles as a show producer, I enjoyed daily tasks such as show design, listener interaction, content ideation, investigative research and interviewing. The process of storytelling and bringing fresh perspectives to light has always driven me. Now, I am excited to apply these skills to the world of sports, especially cricket and contribute to the evolving digital sports media landscape.

Thoughts on Australia vs India?

Well, I am really looking forward to the India vs. Australia women’s series! Australia has been dominating the scene, especially with all their T20 World Cup wins. But India is catching up fast under Harmanpreet Kaur’s leadership. I am excited to see players like Jemimah Rodrigues, who has been improving constantly and Deepti Sharma, who is always a key player. With experts like Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry on the Aussie side, it’s going to be a tough, competitive series. Both teams are bringing their A-game and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds!