BCCI introduces equal pay: Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu laud historic decision
The BCCI has decided to do away with gender disparity and has introduced equal pay for all its men and women cricketers across international and domestic cricket. On the same note, Shah Rukh Khan and Taapsee Pannu have lauded the decision.
FollowOn Thursday, Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu and Anushka Sharma welcomed the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI's) landmark decision of equal match fee for its centrally-contracted female and male players in a bid to promote gender equality in cricket. As per the newly introduced system, the Indian women cricketers will now be receiving ₹15 lakh per Test, ₹6 lakh per One-Day International (ODI), and ₹3 lakh per Twenty20n International (T20I), the same as their male counterparts. Earlier, the women cricketers received ₹1 lakh each for ODIs and T20Is, while the match fee for a Test match was ₹4 lakh.
"What a good front foot shot. Sports being such an equaliser [in more ways than one], hoping it will pave the way for others to follow," documented SRK on Twitter. Taapsee, who portrayed former Indian skipper Mithali Raj in the 2022 movie "Shaabash Mithu", described her appreciation towards the BCCI.
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"A huge step towards equal pay for equal work. Thank you, BCCI, for leading with example," Pannu composed on Twitter. Taking to Instagram stories, former Indian skipper and top-order batter Virat Kohli's wife, Anushka Sharma, shared the screenshot of BCCI secretary Jay Shah's tweet and reacted with three clapping emojis. The actor will be portraying legendary former pacer Jhulan Goswami in the upcoming flick "Chakda Xpress".
Akshay Kumar also hailed the BCCI for the endeavour. "It's an absolutely brilliant decision, will go a long way in making our women players take up professional cricket," he stated in a tweet. "Brilliant. Well done. @BCCI," tweeted Abhishek Bachchan. Filmmaker Onir shared the news report link about the announcement on Twitter and recommended the Indian film industry follow the same.
"Fantastic. Now hope the Indian film Industry takes a cue and learns (sic)," Onir corresponded. Recently, the Indian women's cricket team prevailed in the Asia Cup 2022 in Bangladesh, conquering Sri Lanka by eight wickets. The team also won the nation's first-ever silver medal in cricket at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham a few months back.
In the last Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI, the cricket board also declared the first-ever women's IPL would be taking place next year. Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) struck a deal with the country's players' association, enabling the women cricketers to earn as much as their male players, while Cricket Australia (CA) is also working on the same. India has become the second country in international cricket to enforce equivalent pay.
(With inputs from PTI)
