Pay gap: BCCI miles from gender parity

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 21

Is it right that that India’s best woman cricketer gets a contract worth Rs 50 lakh annually, while the country’s best male cricketer’s contract is worth Rs 7 crore?

The gap in the annual retainership between the genders is staggering — the best male cricketers are assured of a sum that is 14 times that sum the best female cricketers are entitled to.

In the list announced by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) recently, three female cricketers — Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav — were put in the top category, Grade A, worth an annual contract of Rs 50 lakh. Ten players were handed Grade B annual contracts worth Rs 30 lakh, while six players got Grade C contracts worth Rs 10 lakh each.

As per the latest figures, the total annual retainership for 25 male players is Rs96 crore, while it is Rs5.1 crore for 19 female cricketers

The pay gap is huge — in the top category, men get 14 times the sum the women get; in the second category, it is around 17 times (Rs 5 crore for men, Rs 30 lakh for women) and in the third category it is 30 times (men get Rs 3 crore, women Rs 10 lakh). The men have a fourth category too, worth Rs 1 crore annually.

Two years ago, ODI team captain Mithali Raj said she would not argue for pay parity. “Where men’s cricket is today has taken a lot of years to get there and perhaps women’s cricket is going through the same process,” she said. “It will take time and it will only get better because the more matches we get to see, the more branding of the sport, the more branding of the players. So once more people get to watch us, the more they will queue up at the stadiums and that’s how you can generate more revenue.”

Aussie model

How do the other countries distribute the salary pie?

Australia has made big strides towards pay parity. Under a deal negotiated four years ago, the male and female cricketers get the same base pay. However, what they actually get in hand is very different, because the pay system considers hours worked and applies premiums for commerciality of competitions played.

There is a difference between the minimum retainers — for male internationals, the minimum retainer is $313,004 while the corresponding figure for the women is $87,609. In other words, the minimum retainer for the men is 3.5 times that of the women.

Clearly, the difference in pay in Australia is not up to 30 times, as it is in India. However, commercial saleability is a huge factor in Australia too, and as Mithali Raj said, if women’s cricket becomes more viable in India, there would be a movement towards a smaller pay gap.