The BCCI has approved a sharp rise in domestic match payments for women, lifting the fee for players in the senior first XI from INR 20,000 to INR 50,000 per playing day. Those listed as reserves will now collect INR 25,000, up from 10,000. The increase was signed off at Monday’s Apex Council meeting in Mumbai and takes effect immediately.
Age-group cricket has been given similar attention. Under-19 and Under-23 players in the first XI will earn INR 25,000 per day; reserves will receive INR 12,500. Until this week, the same players banked 10,000 and 5,000 respectively. A youngster who plays every league fixture plus the final will now finish the season with roughly INR 5 lakh, more than double last year’s figure.
“We have to make the pathway worthwhile,” a senior board official said after the meeting. “If we want a bigger talent pool, better pay at the base is non-negotiable.”
Coaches around the country have been lobbying for change since India’s breakthrough one-day World Cup victory and the launch of the Women’s Premier League. One coach from the west zone told us, “The WPL showed just how many good players are out there, but many still juggle cricket with day jobs. A stronger domestic pay cheque helps them focus on the game.”
Those sentiments are echoed in the dressing room. An experienced domestic batter remarked, “Fifty thousand a day means I can stop worrying about travel costs and training fees. It won’t solve everything, yet it’s a big step.”
National-team payments, already aligned with the men since 2022, remain untouched: INR 15 lakh for a Test, INR 6 lakh for an ODI and INR 3 lakh for a T20I. Central-contract values, though, stay where they were. The top tier for women sits at INR 50 lakh a year—still below the men’s lowest bracket. A decision on that gap, board members said, is “for another meeting”.
Why now?
• India’s senior women claimed their first ODI World Cup in July, a result that lifted both expectations and television ratings.
• Back-to-back Under-19 world titles have fuelled bigger registration numbers at state academies.
• The inaugural WPL season highlighted the earning gulf between the elite and the rest; some uncapped players went for seven-figure sums, while many team-mates returned to modest state contracts the next week.
What does it mean?
A domestic player who turns out in all eight senior league matches this season stands to earn INR 4 lakh in match fees alone; add another 1 lakh for a semi-final and final, and the figure climbs to 5 lakh. Coaches believe that total, combined with modest state retainers, will persuade more youngsters to postpone university or office careers for a serious go at cricket.
Challenges remain. Training facilities vary widely between the bigger and smaller associations, and travel logistics in the women’s game can still be patchy. Yet the fee hike is viewed as a clear signal that the board intends to back its rhetoric with rupees.
“This is about respect as much as money,” the senior batter added. “When the board pays properly, everyone else—from sponsors to broadcasters—takes the women’s game more seriously. That can only be good.”
