The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a historic decision on Thursday (27 October) as they announced the pay equity policy for the country’s women cricketers. The board announced that the women cricketers will now get the same match fees as their male counterparts. The decision to bring the pay equity policy was taken at the 15th BCCI Apex Council meeting.
Post the meeting, Jay Shah announced the historic decision through a tweet. “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,” tweeted Shah on Thursday.
This announcement from BCCI was welcomed by cricketers around the country. From former cricketers to current cricketers, everyone shared their views on this historic step from the Indian cricket board. Former Indian captain Virat Kohli also reacted to the news of the pay equity policy for the country’s women cricketers. “Phenomenal news,” wrote Kohli while sharing the screenshot of Jay Shah’s above-mentioned tweet.
India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur also reacted to this huge announcement from the BCCI. Kaur thanked the board for this bold step and called it a ‘red letter day’. "Truly a red letter day for Women's Cricket in India with pay parity announced for women and men. Thank you @BCCI and @JayShah," Harmanpreet wrote on her Twitter.
Check out other reactions here as well:
Notably, the women cricketers will be paid the same match fee as their male counterparts. In Test cricket it will be INR 15 Lakh, INR 6 Lakh in ODI, and INR 3 Lakh in T20Is. It is a huge rise from INR 20,000 (approx.).