BCCI okays equal pay for Indian men & women cricketers; celebrities, sports stars and fans laud landmark move

In a landmark decision, the BCCI on Thursday announced equal match fees for its centrally-contracted female and male players in a bid to tackle gender discrimination. BCCI secretary Jay Shah took to Twitter to announce the historic development.

"I'm pleased to announce @BCCI's first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers. The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Cricket," Shah tweeted.

As per the newly introduced system, the Indian women's cricketers will now receive Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI, and Rs 3 lakh per T20I, the same as their male counterparts.

"The @BCCIWomen cricketers will be paid the same match fee as their male counterparts. Test (INR 15 lakhs), ODI (INR 6 lakhs), T20I (INR 3 lakhs). Pay equity was my commitment to our women cricketers and I thank the Apex Council for their support," Shah added.

Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) had struck a deal with the country's players' association, which enabled the women cricketers to earn as much as the mail players, while Cricket Australia (CA) is also working to do away with gender disparity.

Indian women's skipper Harmanpreet Kaur reacted to the landmark move and stated, "Truly a red letter day for Women’s Cricket in India with pay parity announced for women and men. Thank you @BCCI and @JayShah"

Former Indian women's captain Anjum Chopra tweeted, "Massive news this! well done @BCCI @JayShah."

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Meanwhile, legendary Indian women batter Mithali Raj too expressed joy over the landmark step. "This is a historic decision for women’s cricket in India! The pay equity policy along with the WIPL next year, we are ushering into a new era for women's cricket in India. Thank you @JayShah Sir & the @BCCI for making this happen. Really happy today." she noted on the micro-blogging site.

Applauding the landmark move, cricketer Amit Mishra called for sporting bodies world over to follow this step. "A welcome decision indeed. Proud that our country did it first. This should be followed by every sport organisation across the globe. Great work @bcci @jayshah ji," wrote the veteran right-arm leg-break bowler.

Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh too lauded the BCCI for this decision. "Great decision!! Many congratulations!!! This will go a long way," he wrote on Twitter.

Nikhil Arora, Managing Director, GoDaddy India was among those who applauded the Board for this step. "Parity in participation can only be achieved when there’s parity in mindsets. Considering the influence the game has on the country, I hope this move weeds out #biases faster. Equal effort deserves #equalpay. Excellent work, @JayShah! #GenderEquality #BCCIWomen," he noted.

The news has sparked massive excitement among cricket fans in the country. Here's a look at how cricket lovers reacted to the landmark move on Twitter: