BCCI Announce Equal Pay for Male and Female Cricketers
In a significant decision, the BCCI on 27th of October announced that it's centrally contracted men and women players would get the same match fees.
In our earlier releases, we have mentioned that the Indian Women’s cricket team has started to perform as well as the Indian men’s team. Now, In a significant decision, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 27th of October has announced a pay equity policy, saying that its centrally contracted men and women players would get the same match fees. This means the women players will now get Rs 15 lakh per Test match, Rs 6 lakh for One-Day International ODI), and Rs 3 lakh for a T20 International. Till now, the women’s team was extremely underpaid and were just paid Rs 1 lakh for One-Day match, and Rs 4 lakh for a Test match. However, the annual retainership for women cricketers remains the same Rs 50 lakh for Grade A, Rs 30 lakh for Grade B and Rs 10 lakh for Grade C. The difference in this annual retainership fee, which is paid to the cricketers at the end of every year is more for the men’s team as they play more matches then the women’s team every year.
However, the difference in the amount seems whooping as the men cricketers are paid Rs 1-7 crore, depending on their grade. With this, India has become the second country in international cricket to implement equal pay. Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket had announced equal match fees for its women players. After this news went on air, former India captain Diana Edulji, who played in an era when the game was run by the Women’s Cricket Association of India, said she and her teammates had to pay from their pockets to play for the country, even at a World Cup, and the term “match fees” were not even heard by anyone. The current Indian Captain Harmanpreet Kaur also expressed her happiness by sharing a tweet. Several other men & women cricketers and people from and outside the fraternity appreciated this milestone decision taken by the BCCI. What do you think about this milestone decision taken by the BCCI? Do mention your thoughts in the comment section below.
