India’s women cricket needs push from sponsors and audience alike. Visibility is a two-way street

I am, like any other Indian, a die-hard cricket fan who makes it a point to watch every match from the beginning till the end and make a close note of the run rates, scores, etc. Of all the matches I have watched till date, the one thing I have found the very queer is the status of Women's cricket. All of them have the grit, the ambition and the skill and perform meticulously in the cricket matches and reach to the finals, however, never win that. They were in the finals of the Women's One Day international world cup in 2005 and even in 2017, however did not win either. Why?

Because women's cricket is neglected in India. It is as simple and straightforward as that. The women's team did not play a single match the entire year after the 2020 world cup final. Here, the pandemic can only be partly blamed because male cricketers played innumerable matches throughout the year, including the Indian Premier league. There is no IPL-style, T20 league for women in India. Private, televised leagues exist for Men's volleyball and men's kabaddi, but not for women. There are no nationals for the Under 16 tournament or a programme that hunts the talent in children at an early age. 

Tennis, US soccer, the Australian women's cricket team are some great examples to follow and a fitting inspiration. The Australian cricket team rides on domestic matches and has a well thought out grassroots system with the world's best T20 league and equal resources, training and infrastructure for both men and women. The performance of the cricket team of Australia (both men and women), securing the best streak  between 2018-2021 clearly indicates that investments in sports can and will do. 

Now coming to the most talked about topic, the pay gap. I feel, the gender pay gap is much more of an issue in privately-run sports. It's amusing to see the disparity between women's and men's national cricket teams. For playing domestic cricket in India, an under-23 male cricketer earns INR 25,000 per day. A senior women's cricketer, on the other hand, is paid only INR 20,000 a day, which is the same as an Under-19 (male) cricketer. The highest retainer for Indian women is Rs 50 lakh, whereas the lowest retainer for men is Rs 1 crore.

India opener, Smriti Mandhana, in a talk said - "We must recognize that the revenue we receive comes from men's cricket." I'll be the first to argue that we need the same thing when women's cricket starts making money. But we can't say that just now. The only thing on our minds right now is winning matches for India, attracting crowds, and generating revenue... We must perform in order to achieve this. It is unjust for us to claim that we deserve to be paid the same as the males."

To this statement, I rise! Why is it unfair on the part of the female cricketers to ask for equal pay? When they spend the same amount to develop their skills, why do they earn a fraction of what the men do and have fewer avenues of income through cricket? A reason cited for this was that women’s teams don’t sell out stadiums or attract sponsors like the men’s team. Well, the burden of getting fans and sponsors and revenue is not on the player. The player’s focus should be on the process. Their only job is to work on themselves, work on their game. 

Former Indian pacer, Snehal Pradhan has very impactfully noted, “Wins create visibility. Visibility creates value. Value translates into revenue.” It's time that the number of domestic, corporate and international matches for female players are increased and are ticketed so that women can earn additional income. The schedule for the women and men's cricket matches should be thoughtfully made, so that the audience is not left with a difficult choice to make. 

Moreover, since both men and women represent their own country on the biggest stage, it is imperative for both of them to have the same prize, player awards and participation money at World Cups. The BCCI must bring in consistency in the prize money. Secondly, it must commit resources to women's sport investment, with specific deliverables such as viewership, involvement, infrastructure, and skill development.
Invest in women's sport and watch the pay gap close!

In the end, I would like to reiterate that the cricket board is not solely responsible for doing something about this situation. YOU, the stakeholders play an even more crucial role in the dynamic process. Take an initiative to support the women’s team by simply attending and watching their matches. The more you’d engage, the better the numbers and the revenues would be which is a critical factor when it comes to the allocation of resources and money.

Just as we have the names of all the male cricketers at our fingers. Let's all tune into the India vs Australia ODI today. Hopefully, we would have the names of the female cricketers as well on our fingertips.