BCCI bats for gender equity, announces equal pay for men and women

The governing body for cricket in India Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced that male and female cricket players will be paid an equal match fee as it seeks to to promote gender equality in the country's most popular sport.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah took to Twitter to announce the significant development. This decision was taken at the BCCI Apex Council emergent meeting on Thursday.

"I'm pleased to announce @BCCI's first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers.


"The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Cricket," Shah tweeted.


As per the newly introduced system, the Indian women's cricketers will now receive Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI, and Rs 3 lakh per T20I, the same as their male counterparts.

"The @BCCIWomen cricketers will be paid the same match fee as their male counterparts. Test (INR 15 lakhs), ODI (INR 6 lakhs), T20I (INR 3 lakhs).

"Pay equity was my commitment to our women cricketers and I thank the Apex Council for their support," Shah added.

Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) had struck a deal with the country's players' association, which enabled the women cricketers to earn as much as the male players, while Cricket Australia (CA) is also working to do away with gender disparity. On expected lines, the decision was welcomed by the cricket fraternity.



"It's a historic move. It's a new dawn for women's cricket. Things were already moving ahead. WIPL together with pay equity policy are steps to get women's cricket to where men's cricket is today," the legendary Mithali Raj told PTI when called for her reaction.

"As a member of the women's cricket fraternity I thank the BCCI and honorary secretary Jay Shah for this announcement. We are already witnessing the growth and popularity of women's cricket from 2017 till now. It's a great move in the right direction."

Outgoing Apex Council member and former India player Shantha Rangaswamy, who attended the meeting, said, "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."

(With PTI inputs)