The BCCI took a step forward towards parity in match fees for women's cricket with men’s cricket, hiking the fees to ₹50,000 from ₹ 20,000. This decision was taken at an apex council meeting in Mumbai. This match fee will go to the players who will be on the ground, and benched players will get Rupees 25,000 from now on.
The recent changes affect not only senior-level cricket but also junior-level and age-group players. These players will now receive 25,000 Rupees per match, while reserve players will earn 12,500 Rupees per match. Before this update, players in the age group received 10,000 Rupees, while reserve players received only 5,000 Rupees.
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This fee structure amounted to somewhat more than INR 2 lakh per season if they played all league matches, including the final. That sum will now be in the range of INR 5 lakh.
BCCI is trying to uplift women's cricket
It can be understood that these changes will elevate domestic-level cricket and will bring more interest from families. Indian women's cricket is something that was not fully explored for many limitations, but as the Indian Women's team won the 2025 World Cup, it gave a wake-up call to everyone. It is a big area to unfold totally, and it is to be believed that by developing the structure, Indian women's cricket can flourish just like Men’s
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As per an ESPNcricinfo report, Several top state coaches and players have requested an internal change aimed at expanding the talent pool that the Women's Premier League (WPL) has helped nurture. The revision of pay at the junior level is a response to the increasing interest in the game among young women, especially following India’s victory in back-to-back editions of the Under-19 World Cup.
However, BCCI's last change in the payment circle for women's international matches came in 2022, which allowed the player to earn INR 15 lakh each Test match in 2022, while the corresponding sums for an ODI and a T20I were INR 6 lakh and INR 3 lakh, respectively. Also, there has been no reformation in the central contracts, which is 50 lakh per year, which is less than the lowest pay slab for men.
