HISTORIC MOVE BY BCCI; INDIAN WOMEN CRICKETERS TO RECEIVE EQUAL PAY AS MEN

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reconstituted apex council has aligned match fees for international women's players with those for their male counterparts in an effort to achieve pay parity between India's male and female cricketers.

The women's cricketers will therefore receive salaries of Rs. 15 lakh, Rs. 6 lakh, and Rs. 3 lakh for the Test, ODI, and T20I matches, respectively, according to a BCCI statement on Thursday.

The match fees for Test matches have increased six times over the current Rs. 2.5 lakh each Test, which is at least a three-fold increase.

The move was described as "a marquee decision on pay equity" by the recently elected BCCI president Roger Binny, while secretary Jay Shah called it "an important step towards tackling discrimination." The decision, according to Treasurer Ashish Shelar, will "alter the game" for women's cricket in India.

It is unknown if the BCCI would also change the annual retainer for women's cricket players. Elite women's cricketers in India currently receive a retainer that is 7% less than that of top men's cricketers. In order to establish a feeder system, the domestic match-fees structure for women's cricket players also needs to be reviewed.

India's men's team is scheduled to play 38 Tests, 42 ODIs, and 61 T20 Internationals over the four-year cycle from May 2023 to April 2027, according to the Future Tours Programme (FTP) released by the International Cricket Council. The matches in the multi-nation competitions of the ICC are not included in this.

India's women will participate in two Tests, 27 ODIs, and 36 T20Is in addition to the ICC events as part of the first-ever women's FTP that the ICC issued from May 2022 to April 2025.

An Indian male cricketer who participates in every bilateral series during a four-year period and plays the same number of games as base will receive match fees of Rs. 10.05 crore.

If an Indian female cricketer participates in every bilateral match through April 2025, she will earn Rs. 3 crore throughout the three-year period.