After BCCI introduced pay parity, other sports bodies followed, says secretary Jay Shah

Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has said that after the Indian Cricket Board introduced equal pay to the men's and women's cricketers, several other sports bodies like the US Open tennis, the English Cricket Board and International Cricket Council (ICC) announced equal pay to their players.

Shah was speaking during the launch of a pioneering initiative aimed at empowering young individuals and advancing gender equality here. He mentioned steps BCCI took for men's and women's cricketers' pay parity.

"The BCCI introduced pay parity for men and women. After our decision, US Open Tennis, the English Cricket Board and ICC did a pay parity for men and women," the BCCI secretary said.

The BCCI has undertaken several initiatives to promote gender equality in the world of cricket. "As we gear up for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, I urge all the young students to not only watch the game but also actively participate and enjoy them," Jay Shah further said.

Jay Shah also praised Indian batter, Smriti Mandhana who was present at the event for winning a gold medal at the Asian Games in China.

“First of all I want to congratulate you for winning gold in the Asian Games," he added. India defended a modest total of 117 runs against Sri Lanka to bag a gold medal in their debut Asian Games outing on Monday last.

In a historic move by BCCI, India's cricket governing body announced an equal match fee for both men's and women's cricketers of India last year.

"I'm pleased to announce BCCI's first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing a pay equity policy for our contracted women 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 Indian Cricket," Shah said in a post on X last year.

BCCI secretary Shah also highlighted the new fees for the contracted players and stressed that the Indian Women's cricket team will earn the same match fees 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. Jai Hind," he added. (With ANI inputs)