PTI

Chennai, Jul 24:  Indian women, for the first time in the history of the country's cricket, will be wearing the 'BCCI' logo on their attire when they tour Ireland and England.

Expressing happiness on Board of Control for Cricket in India's decision to support their women counterparts, Subhangi Kulkarni, former India Captain and current Secretary of the Women's Cricket Association of India, told PTI from Mumbai that it would help them break new ground.

"We are more than happy on the BCCI's support. I am sure good days are ahead for our players and it should also augur well for clinching top rank, though we lost the World Cup finals last year".

The team is leaving tomorrow from Mumbai to Dublin via London for the tour which would commence with back-to-back one-day matches with Ireland, the first of which will be played on July 29.

BCCI is the last full member of the International Cricket Council to recognise and merge the women's federation with it.

"We express our thanks to its President, Sharad Pawar and everyone concerned in the BCCI," Kulkarni said.

"Those were the days that we used to go with begging bowls to find money for sending our team abroad and also to organise matches in India.

"Now, we are all relieved that the BCCI's help is there. More than this, we give more credence to their decision in extending the facilities at various venues in India to women cricketers." After the matches against Ireland, the 14-member Indian team led by Mithali Raj will play five one-dayers and two Test matches besides a 20-20 tie.