Editorial. Well played

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took a small, albeit significant, step last week by introducing gender parity in match fees for women cricketers. Now women cricketers will get the same match fee as their male counterparts — ₹15 lakh for a Test match, ₹6 lakh for an ODI and ₹3 lakh for a T20 match. This is against the present remuneration levels of ₹2.5 lakh for a Test, and ₹1 lakh each for an ODI and T20 match. The seven-fold hike in match fees for women cricketers for Test matches, a six-fold hike for ODIs and a three-fold hike for T20 matches to ensure parity with their male counterparts was long overdue. BCCI is only the second cricketing nation to bring about parity in match fees, the first being New Zealand. But even as cricketers — men and women (such as Mithali Raj, Anjum Chopra, Harmanpreet Kaur and Sachin Tendulkar) — have hailed the move, a lot more needs to be done to usher gender parity in Indian cricket.

For now, it is only the match fee that has been equalised. The BCCI has not touched the central contracts. Under the central contracts for men cricketers, there are four categories — A+ (annual retainer of ₹7 crore a year), A (annual retainer ₹5 crore), B (annual retainer ₹3 crore) and C (annual retainer ₹1 crore). Only three Indian men cricketers are in the A+ category — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. For women there are three categories — A (₹50 lakh), B (₹30 lakh) and C (₹10 lakh). In the A category we have Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad. So even the men cricketers in the lowest C category get twice as much as women cricketers in the highest A category. The other disparity that is embedded in the structure of world cricket is the difference in the number of matches that men and women play. In the first ever Futures Test Programme for women for 2022-25 cycle released by the International Cricket Council, Indian women will play two Tests, 27 ODIs and 38 T20 matches, apart from ICC tournaments . In contrast men cricketers in this period will play 38 Tests, 42 ODIs and 61 T20 matches, apart from ICC tournaments. An Indian male cricketer who features in all these matches in this period will earn ₹10.5 crore whereas a female cricketer will earn only ₹3 crore. What we need is for more tournaments to be organised around women’s cricket. The first ever women’s IPL next year will bring in much-needed visibility and money, apart from a bigger profile for women’s cricket.

World over, sportswomen have waged a struggle for pay parity. Now, all four Tennis Grand Slam tournaments give equal prize money for men and women. US women footballers recently, after a prolonged battle, achieved parity in match fee with their male counterparts. The richest sports body in India has shown that it is willing to reform. Now, the other professional sports bodies and federations should pick BCCI’s cue. Funds cannot be cited as an excuse to duck what is a point of principle.

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