BCCI announces equal match fee for all contracted female and male cricketers

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have implemented an equal pay policy for all the contracted players of the National women’s cricket team, and they will now be getting paid equally as their male counterparts. The match fee for both male and female cricketers of the Indian national team will now be the same.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) were the first to implement such a rule as they decided to pay all the female cricketers equally as the male players, and bringing a transformation into the world of Indian cricket, the BCCI has taken a revolutionary decision. Though the annual contract amount does not see any changes, the match fee for male and female cricketers will be equal, across all three formats.

The contracted players will get INR 15 lakhs for a Test match, INR Six Lakhs for One-Day Internationals, and INR Three Lakhs for a game of T20 international. Making the announcement on his official Twitter account, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said:

“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 Indian Cricket. 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.”

While the Indian men's team is currently playing the T20 World Cup in Australia, the Women's team recently bagged the Asia Cup 2022 title, earlier this month, by defeating Sri Lanka in the finals. India lost just one game on their way to the finals, which was against Pakistan. But the Women in Blue put up a dominating show overall, and clinched the prestigious trophy for a record seventh time.