Indian women cricketers to receive the same match fee as men, says BCCI

Under the new pay structure, women cricketers will be paid Rs 15 lakh per match for a test match, Rs 6 lakh for a one-day international (ODI) and Rs 3 lakh for a T20 match

India women's cricket team — (Photo: Twitter/@BCCIWomen)

3 min read Last Updated : Oct 27 2022 | 1:15 PM IST

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to give equal match fees to men's and women's cricket teams. The announcement was made by BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Twitter.

"I'm pleased to announce @BCCI's first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing a pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers. The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be the same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Indian Cricket," Shah tweeted on Thursday.

Under the new pay structure, women cricketers will be paid Rs 15 lakh per match for a test match, Rs 6 lakh for a one-day international (ODI) and Rs 3 lakh for a T20 match. These are the same fees given to the men's team.

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

This comes just days after BCCI announced that they will organise women's IPL in 2023.

The pay parity in Indian cricket has been a point of discussion for a long time. In 2020, Smriti Mandhana had said, "We need to understand that the revenue we get is through men’s cricket. The day women’s cricket starts earning revenue, I will be the first person to say that we need the same thing. But right now, we can’t say that. The only focus right now is to win matches for India, get the crowd coming in and earn revenues...For that, we need to perform. It is unfair on our part to say that we need to be paid as much as the men."

In July, New Zealand also made a similar announcement. From August 1, women's and men's cricketers are being paid the same match fees.

"It’s really important for the current players to build on the legacy of those who have gone before us, and to support tomorrow’s players, both men and women, at all levels," New Zealand's men's captain Kane Williamson had said.