In a first, BCCI offers equal pay to men and women Indian cricketers

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has declared that equal pay will be given to all contracted men and women Team India cricketers from now on. BCCI secretary Jay Shah shared on Twitter that the step has been taken to tackle discrimination between women and men players. "I’m pleased to announce BCCI's first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing a pay equity policy for our contracted women 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 tweeted.  

He added that the women cricketers will be paid the same match fee as their male counterparts. For test matches, they would get Rs 15 lakh, for one-day internationals (ODIs) Rs 6 lakh, T20 International matches Rs 3 lakh.  

Focus on women’s cricket

It is to be noted that there is a significant pay gap between the match fees of Indian men and women cricketers. New Zealand is the first country to introduce equal pay for women's and men's cricketers. The new order was brought in this July.. 

At that time, New Zealand's men's captain Kane Williamson had said: "It’s really important for the current players to build on the legacy of those who have gone before us, and to support tomorrow’s players, both men and women, at all levels."  

Women’s cricket came into focus after India's spectacular performance in the 2017 Women's ODI World Cup in England. Though they lost the final, the craze about women's cricket touched a new high following that. 

Women IPL league 

Earlier this month, BCCI announced that it would host a five-team IPL tournament for women next March 2023, immediately after the Women's T20 World Cup ends in South Africa on February 26. 

As per the plan, around 22 matches will be held. Each team will have 18 players, wherein the teams can rope in a maximum of six from overseas.  

Though the BCCI is yet to finalise the schedule for the Women's IPL, as per news reports, the matches are set to be over before the men's IPL begins, which will be held at the end of March.