From paying from our pockets to pay parity with men, Diana Eduljee on the giant leap for Indian women cricketers

“It is a boost and now a lot more girls will come up and play domestic cricket and make a name for themselves. IPL (women’s) is around the corner and everything is readymade for women’s cricket to be a great career in India,” Edulji told The Indian Express.

The match fee hike for women cricketers means they will be paid Rs 15 lakhs per Test match, Rs 6 lakh for a One-Day International and Rs 3 lakh for the T20 International. Till now women cricketers were paid Rs 1 lakh for a white-ball match and Rs 4 lakh for a Test match.

“I am very happy with this news and it is a great diwali gift given by BCCI to women cricketers. By announcing this the BCCI has taken a big step in recognizing women cricketers and women’s cricket,” Edulji added. Retainership for women cricketers remain the same – Rs 50 lakh for Grade A, Rs 30 lakh for Grade B and Rs 10 lakh for Grade C. The men’s team, which play a higher number of games, are paid between Rs 7 crore and Rs 1 crore depending on their grade, starting with an A Plus grade.

Former India captain Diana Edulji. (FILE)

Edulji played in the era when the game was run by Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) and the money in the modern game and the facilities is something she could not have dreamt of in her heydays. “We travelled in unreserved compartments. We could not help it, there was no money and it was only after the BCCI took over women’s cricket in 2006 that things started looking better. And I am glad we laid the foundation stone, Shantha (Rangaswamy) and myself fought hard for it.

Our views are still being taken into consideration. I won’t grudge anything. We paid from our pockets also but we played for passion. Now they (the current team) have to play for passion and pride because they are representing the board and country which is very prestigious.” So hard up for money was the WCAI that players like Edulji were asked to pay Rs 10,000 from their own pockets to play the 1982 edition of the World Cup in Australia.

“We didn’t have match fees and we paid to play. When we went to Australia for the World Cup, each girl was asked to pay Rs 10,000 to play for India which was a lot of money. There were four of us from Maharashtra and we made an appeal to the chief minister AR Antulay. We said we did not have the money. He immediately gave the cheque,” Edulji recalls.

On Thursday, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had tweeted: “I am pleased to announce @ BCCI’s first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing a pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers. The match fees for both Men and Women Cricketers will be same as we move into a new era of gender equality in cricket.”
Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) CEO Tom Moffat in a text message to The Indian Express said, “This is clearly a really positive step for the game and for players in India.

Following the recent announcement regarding the women’s IPL, we hope it is yet another step towards gender equity across all areas of the game in India, and in more countries around the world.” It was when Edulji was a member of the Committee of Administrators of the BCCI, that women cricketers were given one-time benefit payments, pension was paid to those who had played less than 10 Test matches while travel and stay of the current players were also upgraded.

“As a CoA member I saw to it that women got their one-time benefit and a pension for women cricketers who had played less than 10 Test matches. Also for the current team, accommodation in five-star hotels in single rooms (they used to share rooms), travelling business class (all trips were not business class) and that women got the same daily allowance as men.

But BCCI has taken a huge step in bringing parity with match fees being raised, and with the women’s IPL starting. I think women cricketers can’t ask for anything more. They are just about getting everything they require because they are playing well. If they were not playing well nobody would have taken interest.

They are being recognised for their performances and it is also time the players also gave back an ICC trophy to the country,” Edulji said, adding that the 2017 final at Lord’s – which India Women lost to England – was the turning point for the game in India.

Earlier this year, it was announced that women cricketers in New Zealand will earn the same amount of match fees as the men. According to the Guardian, a top women’s cricketer would earn a maximum of $163,246 up from $83,432.