BCCI announces equal pay for centrally-contracted male and female players

In a landmark decision, the BCCI on Thursday announced equal match fees for its centrally-contracted female and male players in a bid to tackle gender discrimination.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah took to Twitter to announce the development.

"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," Shah tweeted.

As per the newly introduced system, the Indian women's cricketers will now receive Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI, and Rs 3 lakh per T20I, the same as their male counterparts.

"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," Shah added.

Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) had struck a deal with the country's players' association, which enabled the women cricketers to earn as much as the male players, while Cricket Australia (CA) is also working to do away with gender disparity.

The decision comes just days after it was decided in the BCCI AGM that the first season of the women's IPL will be played in 2023.

Interest in Indian women's cricket has been on an upswing ever since the team finished runners-up in the 2017 ICC Women's World Cup. The team has since gone on to reach the final of the T20 World Cup in 2020 and also won the silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.