MUMBAI: In a year in which they finally ended their wait for a maiden World Cup crown by winning the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup at home in November, there is more good news for India’s women cricketers.In another landmark decision for women’s cricket in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to introduce a massive pay hike for India’s women domestic cricketers, more than doubling the per-day domestic match fees of senior women cricketers from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000.
At present, for senior women’s tournaments, players in the playing XI are paid Rs 20,000 per day, and reserves are paid Rs 10,000 per day. For junior women’s tournaments, players in the playing 11 are paid Rs 10,000 per day, and reserves are paid Rs 5,000 per day in all T20 tournaments.Presently, on average, a senior women’s cricketer receives around Rs 2 lakhs for a season if the team only plays the league stages of senior tournaments.As per the revised pay structure, which will soon be implemented by the BCCI for the senior women’s tournaments, players will earn Rs 50,000 per day for being in the playing XI and Rs 25,000 per day for reserves. For T20 matches, their match fees will be Rs 25,000 for being in the playing XI and Rs 12,500 for being in the reserves. For junior women’s tournaments, players will get Rs 25,000 per day for being in the playing XI, and Rs 12,500 per day will be given to the reserves. For T20 matches, the fees will be Rs 12,500 for the playing XI and Rs 6,250 for the reserves.“We have more than doubled the match fees of India’s domestic women cricketers. We are only carrying forward the initiative of (former BCCI secretary and current ICC chairman) Jay Shah, who introduced pay parity for India’s international cricketers,” BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told TOI.BCCI to review India’s performance in Under-19 Asia CupMeanwhile, concerned by India’s poor performance in the Under-19 Asia Cup final after India suffered a crushing 191-run defeat to Pakistan in the summit clash at Dubai, the BCCI will review the Indian team’s performance in the Under-19 Asia Cup. “We are concerned by this heavy defeat. We will basically have a brainstorming session to strengthen our Under-19 cricket,” Shukla said. The review is important since the 2026 Under-19 World Cup will be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia, starting from January 15.It means that the Board will seek a report from the team manager Salil Datar and hold discussions with head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar, bowling coach Sunil Joashi and perhaps captain Ayush Mhatre. The BCCI is also concerned with the poor player conduct during the ill-tempered final.
