In the newly released film Hattrick, Rimii Sen is faced with a dilemma that many women will face over the next month. She plays a cricket widow, whose cricket-crazy husband would think of the fine leg on screen rather than hers. No matter what she does to seduce him, Sen cannot get Kunal Kapoor’s attention, until she figures that if you can’t beat them, join them.

Cricket widows are another species of neglected wives, like soccer and golf widows. These wives contend with husbands sprawled out on couches, glued to the telly, grunting instead of conversing. “Cricket widows exist because of a stereotype,” says Dr Ekta Soni, psychologist, Apollo Hospitals. “Women have the notion that they cannot enjoy the game, just as men grow up with the notion that it is the biggest adrenaline high and sometimes become over-obsessed with it.” Soni advises on how to cope with it: “Don’t spend time sulking. Utilise that time to do your own thing and understand that it is just a sport and not a competitor for your spouse’s attention.”

During the cricket season, I question my very existence. I’m totally ignored by both Javed and Farhan. These days, with the World Cup on, they have a khadi flag wrapped around the screen. Once the match starts, they settle in front of the TV and then nothing on earth can move them. And when the TV is not on, then there are intense conversations at the dinner table and on the phone and, of course, it’s all about cricket.

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