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Harmanpreet, Mandhana get same match fee as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, but what about contract amount: 'Equal pay’ facts
India's loss against England in the Women's World Cup has led to severe criticism coming Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana's way.
The narrow four-run defeat against England in the Women's World Cup 2025 fixture at the Holkar Stadium in Indore has resulted in the discourse getting ugly regarding Harmanpreet Kaur's India. The third successive defeat in the eight-team tournament means the hosts look at a do-or-die prospect in their next two matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh. India entered the tournament as firm favourites, but now there's a realistic chance of the team not even making the semi-finals.
India were in firm control of the 289-chase against England on Sunday as Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet put on 125 runs for the third wicket. Harmanpreet might have lost her wicket for 70, but Mandhana found perfect support in Deepti Sharma, and the duo made the equation quite simple – 62 runs needed in 10 overs with seven wickets in hand.
But as fate would have it, India lost from this position by four runs. Yes, that's correct. It's fair that the team should cope with criticism considering losses against South Africa, Australia and England. In all three games, India were on the verge of walking away as the victorious party, but a choke at the final moment resulted in defeats.
No one is bigger than the game; hence, receiving flak is par for the course. When Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma don't get a 100, it's considered a failure by some and the duo are subjected to heavy criticism. The same is the case with players like Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and more. Hence, the players from the women's team should be held to the same standards and expectations.
However, what's not right is the kind of statements that are being passed on social media regarding the women's team. False claims are being made regarding equal pay, with many questioning the performance of the women's team.
The discourse about the claims of equal pay is getting out of hand, so it's only fair to bust myths and state all facts in the public domain.
Is there equal pay?
First things first, the Indian women's team do get the same match fees as the men's team. This decision was confirmed by Jay Shah, the then-BCCI secretary, in 2022. The Indian women's team players get INR 15 lakh for a Test, INR 6 lakh for an ODI and INR 3 lakh for a T20I. The amounts are the same when it comes to men's cricketers.
Taking to X, he wrote, “I’m pleased to announce @BCCI’s first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing a pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers. The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be the same as we move into a new era of gender equality in 🇮🇳 Cricket.”
This is where the equal pay argument ends. Yes, that's right. Now, coming to the next big step, the central contracts list. This is where the biggest difference lies, as Mandhana and Harmanpreet's annual income is nowhere near as close to Virat and Rohit.
For the period of 2024-2025, Virat, Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja were placed in the A+ category. It is also worth mentioning that there is no such thing as an A+ for the women's team. The biggest bracket for the women's team is the A category, in which there are only three cricketers – Smriti, Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma.
According to an official BCCI release, players in the A+ category get INR 7 crore while the players in the A, B and C categories get INR 5 crore, INR 3 crore, and INR 1 crore, respectively. When it comes to the women's team, players in the A category get INR 50 lakhs while those in the B and C categories get INR 30 lakhs and INR 10 lakhs.
Yes, it is correct that the BCCI is trying its level best to even the playing field when it comes to pay for women's and men's teams. But as of now, we have not reached a stage where there is equal pay in all aspects. And that's the bottom line.
Full central contracts list for the 2024-25 period
Men's team:
A+ category (INR 7 crore): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
A category (INR 5 crore): Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant
B category (INR 3 crore): Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer
C category (INR 1 crore): Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana.
Women's team:
A category (INR 50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma
B category (INR 30 lakh): Renuka Singh Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Shafali Verma
C category (INR 10 lakh): Yastika Bhatia, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Sneh Raha, Pooja Vastrakar
