Pay Grade of Women Cricketers
Cricket is such a sport that is always seen as a male influence and dominating sport; thus, there are a limited number of tournaments of women’s cricket. Therefore, there is a clear difference between male players getting lucrative packages when it comes to the pay scale, whereas female players struggle with a low pay scale, benefits, and prize money.
The Indian team captain and Virat Kohli was the only Indian cricket player listed in the top 100 richest athletes in 2020 Forbes magazine. He draws INR 70 million (appx USD 943,963) per annum and an additional INR 170 million (appx USD 22,924,823) from his IPL Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise, while the senior Indian female cricket player draws a salary of INR 5 million (appx USD 674,259) per annum.
For the Indian cricket team, there are three categorizations set by the BCCI – Grade A, B, and C.
- Grade A — Women Indian players draw INR 5 million (appx USD 64,447) per annum, while Men Indian players draw INR 50 million (appx USD 6,742,510)
Only three women cricket players belong to this category — Poonam Yadav, Smriti Mandhana, and Harmanpreet Kaur.
- Grade B — Women Indian players draw INR 3 million (appx USD 40,455) per annum, while Men Indian players draw INR 30 million (appx USD 4,045,506)
- Grade C — Women Indian players draw INR 1 million per annum (appx USD 13,485) while, Men Indian players draw INR 10 million (appx USD 1,348,502)
While in Australia, the women cricket player’s average earnings were raised from USD 79,000 to a whopping USD 179,000 in 2017 and currently is USD 210,000 per annum. ECB (England Cricket Board) provides GBP 18,000 (appx USD 24,688) per annum to their full-time female cricket players in 2021.
Below is the top five women’s cricket player who draws the highest salary currently:
1. Ellyse Perry — Australia Team Earns INR 95.32 lakhs (appx USD 128,563) Per Annum
Ellyse Perry, the dominant Australian cricket player who won ICC T20 in 2010, and till now, she had swamped 261 wickets. Ellyse is the youngest Australian female cricket player who played second ODI — Rose Bowl Series in 2007 against New Zealand at the age of 16.
Ellyse also represents Australia in the football world cup — supporting Sydney FC Women’s league along with cricket and become the first female to represent two sports at once in 2008.
Ellyse has constantly proved her strong willingness and devotion to cricket. During the World Cup final in 2013, she played the match even though her ankle was injured and she was on heavy painkillers.
With the recent hike in Australian female cricket players, her salary is now a whopping INR 95.32 lakhs (appx USD 128,563) per annum. Though with her excellent performance, she deserves more.
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2. Meg Lanning — Australia Team Earns INR 95.32 lakhs (appx USD 128,563) Per Annum
Meg is the Australian women’s cricket team champion who makes her debut in the cricket world at 18 years and earned the tag of youngest cricket player of Australia.
In ODI format, Meg was the only female cricket player who scores more than ten centuries. In 2020, Meg led her team, winning 4th T20. Her average T20Is is 34, and ODIs is 54, which makes her the most talented female cricket player in Australia.
Currently, Meg got a renewal of her central contract that qualifies her to draw appx USD 128,563 (appx INR 95.32 lakhs) per annum.
3. Smriti Mandhana — India Team Earns INR 50 Lakhs (appx USD 67,447) Per Annum
The lefthanded batswomen Smriti Mandhana is the Indian women’s cricket team star and is often mocked as India’s wonder woman. So far, she has completed four centuries, 18-half centuries with 2172 runs, and played 56 ODIs. Smriti is a left-handed opening batswoman. She picked up to play a left hand at the age of 9 for fun even though she is righthanded.
Smriti is the second Indian women cricketer who won a World T20 twice, part of the foreign T20 league, and wins double in a one-day domestic competition at 20 years.
Smriti is currently in the Grade A category of a women cricket player in India and gets INR 50 lakhs (appx USD 67,447) per annum.
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4. Harmanpreet Kaur — India Team Earns INR 50 Lakhs (appx USD 67,447) Per Annum
T20I Indian women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur is one of the excellent bowlers. She was the first-ever Indian women cricket player who enters the T20 overseas club. Harmanpreet’s cricket-playing style is often mocked as India’s ultimate batsman — Virender Sehwag.
Harmanpreet was the first women’s cricket hit a century during the Women’s Twenty20 International Cricket Match. She was the first captain in her first game in the 2012 Women’s T20 Asia Cup, replacing Mithali Raj, who was out of the game because of her injury and won the match against Pakistan by 81 runs.
In the 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20, Harmanpreet scored 89 runs, and in 4 matches, she hit four wickets. In the following year, in 115 balls, she scored 171 against Australia in Women’s Cricket World Cup Semi-Final. Thus, she scores second-highest in women’s cricket matches of one-day internationals.
With her setting records every now and then, it is still unfair that she is paid INR 50 lakhs (appx USD 67,447) per annum. She deserved to be paid more.
5. Poonam Yadav— India Team Earns INR 50 Lakhs (appx USD 67,447) Per Annum
Poonam Yadav, the Indian women’s cricket player who currently belongs to the highest category of Grade A in the Indian cricket team, is one of the best bowlers in ODIs and T20Is matches. In 68 matches, Poonam set a record of 95 wickets also an exceptional economy — 5.65. During the 50 ODIs, Poonam claimed 72 wickets at an economy of 3.8.
During the ICC Women World Cup in 2017, Poonam saved the Indian team by claiming two wickets in 10 overs, and India won by 23 runs against Sri Lanka.
The following year’s ODI World Cup is set in New Zealand, and Poonam is all set to experimenting with her bowling as for her, India’s women cricket team must bring the World Cup home.
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Why Do Women Cricket Player Draws Less Salary and Limited Benefits Than Men Cricket Players?
There are numerous reasons behind the men cricket players get more attention and salary in comparison to women. Cricket has been lauded as a male-dominated sport for centuries. As a result, people from various nations have begun to acknowledge their cricket idols like Kapil Dev (India), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Brett Lee (Australia), Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Chris Gayle (West Indies), and many more as their God.
With their popularity globally, the men’s cricket tournaments fetch tremendous people; hence the cricket tournament stadium ticket sells more. However, compared to women’s cricket tournaments that bring the average crowd, the tickets selling rate is much cheaper.
The other important fact is that the media and advertising agencies prefer to have their men cricket player endorse their products because their popularity attracts more audience to try their services or products.
The hoardings installed on the stadium and the media rights during the cricket matches attract a handsome amount to BCCI; thus, they prefer to benefit by promoting and rewarding the men’s cricket team rather than the women.
Conclusion:
Slowly with the progress and popularity of women’s cricket teams globally, they are cracking more endorsements and earning more. However, it is still less in comparison to men cricket players.
We hope as the time changes, the women cricket players get more pay amounts, more brands under their hood as they deserved.
Main Image Source: Pixabay
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