Due to its rising popularity cricket has turned into a global sport. Now cricketers are considered world-class athletes and it has helped the game reach a larger section of people. In turn, more and more youngsters are taking up the game which has further increased the aura of the sport. In true sense, cricket has grown leaps and bounds.

Still, the gender disparity has been the stumbling block in the game as Women’s cricket is yet to cover a lot of ground. Issues like the pay gap and less coverage of matches have plagued the system but in recent times some female stars have changed the wind direction. Now they are standing toe to toe with their male counterparts.

These women cricketers are the pioneers of modern-day cricket and some of them share striking similarities with their WWE equivalents. Like cricket, wrestling has also been a male-dominated sport but now females have got their share of stardom. Such has been the transformation that they have become the face of the company.

Here is the list of 5 female cricketers and their WWE equivalents:

1) Ellyse Perry – Ronda Rousey

Ellyse Perry is a cricketer who redefined the consistency levels. Ever since her debut, she has been churning out match-winning performances on a loop. At 28, she is not only the torchbearer of women’s cricket but also an inspiration for young athletes. The Australian star is a complete package and can be rightly tagged as a once in a generation talent.

She has been part of 5 World Cup wins. Apart from her all-round skills in cricket Perry has also represented her country in the football World Cup which puts her in an elite panel. In simple terms, she is one of the greatest sportswomen and the same thing can be said about Ronda Rousey. She is the ultimate fighting machine of women’s wrestling.

She is the first female fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of fame and it is similar to the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the year award received by Perry in its inaugural year. Both of them have excelled in different types of sports. Perry is the only cricketer to enjoy the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is and it can be compared to Ronda’s unique achievement of being the only woman to win the double of UFC and WWE championships.

2) Harmanpreet Kaur – Charlotte Flair

The innings which changed the future of Women’s cricket in India has to be the unbeaten 171 by Harmanpreet Kaur in the 2017 World Cup semi-final. She is one of the rare female cricketers who can hit big shots at will. Her ability to pay freely irrespective of the situation separates her from the rest. Such has been her dominance in white-ball cricket that she is leading the national side in T20Is.

Her stroke-making has caught the attention of the entire cricketing fraternity and that’s why she is the first Indian woman to be picked by an overseas T20 franchise. Kaur has led a revolution in the country’s cricket and it is similar to Charlotte Flair’s contribution to women’s wrestling. She is a record nine-time women’s champion in WWE.

From the last couple of years, Flair has been delivering iconic bouts at main events. If Queen’s wrestling moves can stun the opponents so can Kaur’s power game. Both of these female stars look effortless in their respective trade. While Harmanpreet is the first Indian woman to score a century in T20s, Charlotte is the inaugural Raw Women’s champion. Flair uses her feet for the figure 8 leg lock and it is analogous to Kaur’s footwork against spinners.

3) Meg Lanning – Becky Lynch

What Meg Lanning has achieved in her international career is nothing short of a spectacle as she has been breaking batting records for fun. With excellent leadership skills and work ethics, she has been a perfect role model for the upcoming generation. She is considered as the “goddess of modern cricket” as her batting grace is a thing of beauty.

Apart from her twin centuries in the shortest format of the game she also holds the record for the highest score in a T20I. Currently, she is leading the women’s cricket with her batting prowess and it has a striking similarity with Becky Lynch’s reign in WWE. The Irish wrestler is the hottest property in the women’s wrestling world and her newly found charisma has gained her immense popularity.

Becky’s 2018 Woman of the year award can be compared to Lanning’s 2014 Wisden Leading women cricketer in the world award as it became the stepping stone of their respective professional lives. In the past, both of them have made a strong comeback after career-threatening injuries.

Even their mental fortitude is alike as Lynch won the 2019 Royal Rumble with a fractured knee and Lanning led the Australian batting unit with an injured shoulder in the 2017 World Cup. If Meg’s 13 ODI centuries are historic then so is Lynch’s dual-title win at Wrestlemania 35.

4) Sarah Taylor – Sasha Banks

English cricket has always been blessed with some amazing talents and one of them is Sarah Taylor. The keeper-batsman has defied all the odds to rule women’s cricket. The batswoman is known for her free-flowing stroke play and has stamped her class on multiple occasions. She is one of the boldest female stars in the international arena.

At the age of 19, Taylor was the youngest woman cricketer to score 1000 ODI runs and she has been part of two 50-over World Cup-winning teams. Apart from her on-field skills, she is a trendsetter in her field and it is a quality which is also associated with Sasha Banks. She was the first woman to headline a WWE pay per view event, 2016 Hell in a Cell.

Banks can effectively portray the role of a face and as well as a heel in professional wrestling. She is known for her versatile in-ring capabilities and it is similar to Taylor’s wicket-keeping skills. While Sasha won the tag team championship by partnering with Bayley, Sarah created a record-breaking second-wicket partnership by teaming up with Tammy Beaumont. Surprisingly both of them have admitted about stress-related issues in their careers.

5) Smriti Mandhana – Bayley

At the moment India has one of the strongest batting line-ups in women’s cricket and Smriti Mandhana is the proud member of that group. The southpaw is leading the charge at the top of the order and her No.1 position in ICC rankings is the validation of the point. She is one of the few cricketers who can take away the game from the opposition in a matter of overs.

Mandhana is known for her crisp drives and stylish lofted shots. Though she is young, she has become the face of women’s cricket with her stunning batting displays and it corresponds to Bayley’s awe-inspiring wrestling matches. She is the first woman to be recognized as a Grand Slam champion and her fighting spirit has invariably made her a fan favourite.

She is one of the stars who led the revolution in WWE and has won championships at main events. Her NXT Iron Man match can be compared to Smriti’s double century in the U19 tournament as it highlighted them as the next big things in their respective fields. If Bayley won Money in the Bank contract earlier in the year then the Indian star won the International Woman Cricketer of the Year title. Coincidentally both the stars are fond of Playstation.