In a historic move by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), India’s cricket governing body on Thursday announced an equal match fee for both men’s and women’s cricketers of India.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah took to his official Twitter handle to announce the historical development. “I’m pleased to announce BCCI’s first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing a pay equity policy for our contracted women 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. BCCI secretary Shah also highlighted the new fees for the contracted players and stressed that the Indian Women’s cricket team will earn the same match fees 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. Jai Hind,” he added in another tweet. Indian women who choose cricket as a career do so despite trying conditions where age-old traditions and social customs make it almost mandatory for them to give up cricket after marriage, devote themselves to raising a family and to explore career options that are compatible with their new domestic responsibilities. It was only in February 1970 that women cricketers were first seen at the nets of the Brabourne Stadium of the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. The first National Championship for women’s cricket was held in Poona in April 1973. This gave a further boost to women’s cricket in the country. India were granted membership of the international body and the Indian team applied for participation in the first ever Women’s World Cup for limited overs competition in England in 1973. Unfortunately, the authorities ruled that India could not participate as their entry was received too late for consideration.
The organization of the Second World Cup in India scheduled for 1977-78 and quite a challenging and adventurous task was not the unqualified success it was expected to be. The arrangements for this event left a lot to be desired, clearly pointing to an urgent need for changes in the administrative setup of the Women’s Cricket Association of India. Only England, Australia, New Zealand and India have been regularly playing Test match cricket. Women play four-day test match instead of the five-day men’s version. India’s first official engagements were one test against New Zealand and Australia in 1976-77. First test series victory was achieved in 2002 against South Africa in a one off test series played at South Africa. It is obvious to all that Indian women often play under constraints unknown to their male counterparts. They have limited funds and far fewer opportunities to practice on turf wickets. Yet, they enjoy the spirit of the game and are happy to be playing it.
