BCCI Announces Equal Pay For Men And Women Cricketers

The Board of Control for Cricket In India will pay equal match fee to men and women players in a historic move on gender parity.

"I’m pleased to announce @BCCI’s first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers," BCCI Secretary Jay Shah tweeted.

This decision was taken at the BCCI Apex Council emergent meeting on Thursday.

"The cricketers will be paid the same match fee as their male counterparts. Test (INR 15 lakhs), ODI (INR 6 lakhs), T20I (INR 3 lakhs)," he said. "Pay equity was my commitment to our women cricketers and I thank the Apex Council for their support."

Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket had struck a deal with the country's players' association, enabling the women cricketers to earn as much as the mail players. Cricket Australia is also working to do away with gender disparity.

Cricketer Mithali Raj, a former captain of India's women's cricket team, called it a "historic decision.

"The pay equity policy along with the WIPL next year, we are ushering into a new era for women's cricket in India. Thank you @JayShah Sir & the @BCCI for making this happen. Really happy today." she tweeted.

Outgoing Apex Council member and former India player Shantha Rangaswamy, who attended the meeting, told PTI, "This is a revolutionary decision by the BCCI. The decision shows that India treats its women equally and there is no gender discrimination. Would like to thank Jay Shah, Roger Binny and Rajeev Shukla for taking this momentous decision."

Former Test player Harbhajan Singh said the "BCCI has set a standard for other sports bodies". "It will encourage greater participation of women in the game. A historic milestone indeed!," he Tweeted.

Recently, the Indian women's cricket team triumphed in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, beating Sri Lanka by eight wickets. The team also won the country's first-ever silver medal in cricket at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier this year.

(With inputs from PTI)