The impact of pay parity, according to India’s first women’s cricket captain

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The BCCI have announced their decision to pay India’s female cricketers the same pay as their male counterparts, for international matches. This has been widely hailed as a move towards gender equality, including by ShanthaRangaswamy who was the first captain of the women’s cricket team.

According to the veteran player, who did not earn any match fees in her 21-year-long international career, women cricketers often have a greater passion for the game than men, due to the hurdles they must overcome to become cricketers, which included the lack of financial incentives and often requiring more support from family.

Furthermore, while India entered the domain of cricket 50-60 years after England and Australia, it is the second nation after New Zealand, to ensure pay parity among players. Rangaswamy has also suggested higher pay in domestic cricket, so that women cricketers are compensated more fairly.

Women’s cricket in India is now facing a series of positive changes, with the announcement of the Women’s Indian Premier League from next year which will include a group of 50 domestic players, which will grant opportunities to those who may not be a part of the national team. However, complete parity is yet to be achieved, as Virat Kohli earns an annual retainer of 7 crore, while Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur earn 50 lakhs.

According to Rangaswamy, this represents a work in progress, with the BCCI reaching an agreement with Cricket Australia and the England Cricket Board about one Test match between both teams, whenever one visits the other. Increasing exposure to multi-day formats has also been suggested, as that is where players learn to improve on their technical skills.