'A red letter day for Women's cricket in India' - Former and current cricketers laud BCCI to pay equity among Men and Women cricketers

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday took a major decision as they announced equal pay for all centrally contracted men and women Team India cricketers at the moment. With that, it is now confirmed that Women cricketers from now will earn ₹15 lakh per Test, ₹6 lakh per ODI and ₹3 lakh per T20I - similar to the male cricketers.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced the decision on his Twitter account and called it a new era of gender equality in Indian cricket. Shah also thanked the apex council of the board for their support throughout.

“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 wrote on his Twitter account.

“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. Jai Hind 🇮🇳,” he added.

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. pic.twitter.com/xJLn1hCAtl

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) October 27, 2022

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. Jai Hind 🇮🇳

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) October 27, 2022

Red letter day for Women’s Cricket in India: Cricketers react to BCCI’s historic decision

Indian captain along with many other national and international cricketers lauded BCCI for taking this revolutionary decision. Harmanpreet Kaur called it to be a red letter day for Women’s cricket in India while former captain Mithali Raj called it to be a historic decision, especially with the Women’s IPL around the corner.

“This is a historic decision for women’s cricket in India! The pay equity policy along with the WIPL next year, we are ushering into a new era for women's cricket in India. Thank you @JayShah Sir & the @BCCI for making this happen. Really happy today,” the former cricketer tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Stalwart of Australian cricket Rachael Haynes also appreciated BCCI for taking the decision. “Wonderful announcement from the @BCCI. Every step towards equality is important 👏🏼👏🏼,” she said while quoting Jay Shah’s Tweet.

Here's how Twitter reacted:

Very happy to hear about the decision of implementation of pay equity policy for the Indian women cricketers, so proud of @BCCI and @JayShah for taking this big and imperative step in the history of cricket.#WomensCricket

— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) October 27, 2022

Great move by the new BCCI regime - @iRogerBinny, @JayShah and team. https://t.co/BamMsE9Vsg

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) October 27, 2022

Kudos to @BCCI and @JayShah Pay equity for all contracted Men and Women cricketers is a praise worthy decision and a significant step forward. I am sure our @BCCIWomen cricketers will be encouraged by this move👍 https://t.co/T5x8LIsA3H

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) October 27, 2022

When you empower players, you bring out the very best in them! Pay equity is a splendid initiative. Kudos @JayShah!! 👏👏 @BCCI

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) October 27, 2022

Another great win @BCCI 🇮🇳❤️ well played skipper @ImRo45 @surya_14kumar and the king himself @imVkohli 😊👏👏👏👏 and great bowlling by all the bowlers 😊👏👏👏 #T20WorldCup #INDvsNED

— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) October 27, 2022

Cricket has been an equalizer in many ways. This is a welcome step towards gender equality in the game and erasing discrimination from the sport. 👏🏻

Very happy with the decision taken by @BCCI and brilliant to see India paving the way forward. @JayShah

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 27, 2022

New year, new dawn 🌤️

The new pay equity policy for men & women cricketers will see the new light for gender equality across nations 🙌🏻#BCCI #GenderEquality #RPSwing

— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) October 27, 2022

So happy for this 😊 #welldeserved https://t.co/vAWHRRsXPw

— Veda Krishnamurthy (@vedakmurthy08) October 27, 2022

What amazing news for Women's cricket in India 👏👏 https://t.co/Mn4shzF05r

— Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti) October 27, 2022

A great step from the @BCCI towards uplifting women's cricket in India and setting an example for the world to follow 🙌🏻 https://t.co/NrVEj3gfkb

— Cheteshwar Pujara (@cheteshwar1) October 27, 2022

A praise-worthy change by @BCCI! The gender gap needs to be closed, and this will prove to be a huge step in the cricket world. Here's to our @BCCIWomen cricketers, cheers!

— Robin Aiyuda Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) October 27, 2022

So pleasing to see this. Huge news for womens cricket in India, plus life changing for individuals. I have no doubt this will help with the perception of the game in the biggest cricket loving country 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 https://t.co/h1doAZ4ZHV

— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) October 27, 2022

How good is this for Women's Cricket in India 🙌🏼 https://t.co/yCtKzHbnmf

— Jemimah Rodrigues (@JemiRodrigues) October 27, 2022

Thank you @JayShah sir and @BCCIWomen https://t.co/kC8SCDXgtk

— Yastika Bhatia (@YastikaBhatia) October 27, 2022

A welcome decision indeed. Proud that our country did it first. This should be followed by every sport organisation across the globe. Great work @bcci @jayshah ji. https://t.co/SYhXNoGRFt

— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) October 27, 2022

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 Kaur (@ImHarmanpreet) October 27, 2022