'A red letter day for Women's cricket in India' - Former and current cricketers laud BCCI to pay equity among Men and Women cricketers

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday took a major decision as they announced equal pay for all centrally contracted men and women Team India cricketers at the moment. With that, it is now confirmed that Women cricketers from now will earn ₹15 lakh per Test, ₹6 lakh per ODI and ₹3 lakh per T20I - similar to the male cricketers.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced the decision on his Twitter account and called it a new era of gender equality in Indian cricket. Shah also thanked the apex council of the board for their support throughout.

“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 wrote on his Twitter account.

“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.

Red letter day for Women’s Cricket in India: Cricketers react to BCCI’s historic decision

Indian captain along with many other national and international cricketers lauded BCCI for taking this revolutionary decision. Harmanpreet Kaur called it to be a red letter day for Women’s cricket in India while former captain Mithali Raj called it to be a historic decision, especially with the Women’s IPL around the corner.

“This is a historic decision for women’s cricket in India! 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,” the former cricketer tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Stalwart of Australian cricket Rachael Haynes also appreciated BCCI for taking the decision. “Wonderful announcement from the @BCCI. Every step towards equality is important 👏🏼👏🏼,” she said while quoting Jay Shah’s Tweet.

Here's how Twitter reacted: