Navi Mumbai – The Indian women’s cricket team set a high standard for the world after the historic victory against South Africa in the World Cup final yesterday at D.Y. Patil Stadium. In parallel with the high standard, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced 51 crore cash prize for the Indian women’s cricket team. This prize money combines a BCCI bonus and the ICC’s massive hike in the winner’s cheque.

According to a source, BCCI secretary Devajit Salkia confirmed the prize money increase for the glorious victory of the Indian women’s team in the final. He said, “Last month, ICC Chairman Jay Shah announced a 300 percent increase in women’s prize money. Earlier, the prize fund was 3.88 million dollars, which has now been raised to 14 million dollars. In addition, the BCCI has decided to reward the entire Indian team – players, coaches, selectors, and support staff – with a total of Rs 51 crore.” Devajit Salkia further added, “BCCI is elated and without touching anything from the ICC kitty, BCCI on its own is going to pay, as a reward, of INR 51 crores to the Indian team. That amount will go to the players, selectors, as well as the support staff headed by Amol Muzumdar.”

Out of the 51 crore prize money, ICC will give approximately 42 crore (4.48 million USD) to the team. This marks the huge hike in the cash prize. It’s more than triple the USD 1.32 million won by Australia in the 2022 edition. It even surpasses the Australian men’s prize money - USD 4 million.

However, this prize money rise sparked the debate of gender discrimination in equal payment for the Indian cricket team. In the latest ICC men’s T20 World Cup, the Indian men’s team earned 125 crores from the BCCI. Despite the promise of equal payment from the BCCI, the Indian women’s team is going to elicit almost 2.5 times less amount than men. This bonus is a matter of delight for the Indian women’s team, but the gender pay gap continues to persist.