Unfair If Women Cricketers Ask For Same Pay As Men Cricketers Get, Says Smriti Mandhana

While women’s cricket has been on the rise in India since the team made it to the final of the 2017 World Cup against all the odds, there is still a huge gap between the pay cheque of male and female cricketers in the country. Recently, the gap was evident once again when the BCCI announced the list of centrally contracts for both men and women’s team.

While the highest grade in women’s cricket gives INR 50 lakh to a player, the lowest grade in men’s cricket sees a player pocket INR 1 crore. The highest grade in men’s cricket sees the players get a whopping amount of INR 7 crore. But despite this huge disparity, star Indian woman cricketer Smriti Mandhana is not bothered by the pay cheque lower than her male counterparts.

Mandhana, who has now become the face of women’s cricket in India, made it clear that she understands the reason behind the disparity. The opening batter said that the “revenue which we get is through men’s cricket” and is thus not too worried about the difference between the salaries of men and women cricketers.

“We need to understand that the revenue which we get is through men’s cricket. The day women’s cricket starts getting revenue, I will be the first person to say that we need the same thing. But right now, we can’t say that,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

“I don’t think any of the teammates is thinking about this gap because the only focus right now is to win matches for India, get the crowd coming in, get the revenue. That is the thing which we are aiming for and if that happens all other things are going to fall in place,” added Smriti Mandhana who is the ICC’s woman cricketer of the year. “And for that, we need to perform. It is unfair on our part to say that we need same pay, it is not right. So I don’t think I want to comment on that gap.”

Things could further improve for Smriti Mandhan & Co. if they do well in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. They made it to the semifinal of the last edition and are one of the favourites for the upcoming edition. A fine tournament will further make BCCI put more emphasis on women’s cricket in India. Smriti Mandhan concluded her interaction with the reporters by saying that she idolises Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara and men’s team skipper Virat Kohli.

Also Read: Remember Us In Your Prayers, Says Mustafizur Rahman Ahead Of Pakistan Tour