The women's cricket team players will now earn the same match fee as their male counterparts, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Jay Shah, who made the announcement on Thursday. This is in accordance with the board's pay equity policy.
“BCCI announced implementing pay equity policy for its contracted Women cricketers. In the 15th BCCI Apex Council meeting held via video conference, the members passed the resolution unanimously,” a press release from the board stated.
Shah made the initial Twitter announcement of the choice.
“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 the same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Indian cricket,” Shah wrote in a tweet.
New BCCI president Roger Binny said, “In our Apex Council meeting today, we have made a marquee decision on pay equity for our women cricketers. Our women players will be paid the same match fees as men in international cricket. This decision sets the platform to grow and develop cricket. I believe this is a significant step forward for women’s cricket and the game overall.”
The much-anticipated Women's Indian Premier League will now be launched, as BCCI decided at its Annual General Meeting held in Mumbai on October 18th.
In the statement released by BCCI outlining the significant decisions made at the AGM, Jay Shah stated, "The General Body approved to hold the Women's Indian Premier League."
The Women's T20 Challenge, which included three teams and four matches in its most recent iteration, had been run by the BCCI up until this point. The top leagues for women's sports right now include the Women's Big Bash League, FairBreak Invitational, Women's Hundred, and Women's Caribbean Premier League.
Recently, the Indian women's cricket team finished second at the Commonwealth Games and won the Asia Cup.
New Zealand cricket also established equal match fees in July of this year.
According to a historic agreement reached by the NZC, the six Major Associations, and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association, professional women's and men's cricketers in New Zealand would be paid equally for equal work on the same day.
White Ferns and domestic women's players will get the same match fees as the men across all of their forms and competitions under the five-year arrangement, which marks the first time the men's and women's professional environments have been merged in one accord.
