India, where cricket is as big as religion, is finally looking to address the gender pay gap

India’s women’s cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur is a household name who has smashed international records, but like most women in the world, she’s been underpaid.

Last week, when Kaur led her team onto the pitch in Mumbai to play Australia in the first of five T20 matches, that all changed.

For the first time in history, the Indian women’s international side is getting paid the same amount per match as its male counterpart.

When Kaur first started playing cricket at school, a moment like this would have been unimaginable.

She grew up playing with boys, which she now credits for her aggressive batting prowess. But that early training ground was born out of necessity, not by choice.

There were limited options for young girls who wanted to pursue the nation’s most worshipped pastime.

Kaur was eventually singled out for her talent, but it took some time — and a good word from cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar and former women’s captain Diana Edulji — before she could turn her passion into a career. 

By 2017, Kaur was a household name. She had broken the record for the highest score in a knockout stage of a women’s World Cup.

But she and many of her teammates were still struggling to even get the right equipment to put in their kit bag.

“If I talk about my experience, it’s totally different now [compared to] how it started and how it’s going,” Kaur said.

“[The] upcoming years are important and we will see a lot of changes.

“It’s an outstanding decision taken by [India’s cricket board].

“As a sportsperson, we always want … recognition, and equal pay will bring lots of motivation to current players and future upcoming stars.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced equal match fees for its female and male international teams back in October.

The current T20 series against Australia is the first time that pay scheme has been put into action.

Female players will now be paid the equivalent of $28,000 for Test matches and $5,400 for T20s.

One-day matches will be paid at $10,800 each — a 500 per cent hike.

India is just the second country to introduce pay parity for its female cricketers. New Zealand enacted the same scheme in July.

“I think that’s motivation and it gives a lot of responsibility because whenever we go to play now … many people are watching us and we want to give our 100 per cent,” Kaur said.

“When we started, no-one was coming to the stadium and watching how much hard work we were doing in the field.

“Nowadays people are recognising [us] whenever we go out and many people come and they want to meet us, they want to talk, and life has totally changed.”

Sunday’s match drew a full house of 45,238 people, with the hosts winning after a tie-breaking super over.

The pay decision is the product of generations of female cricketers fighting for equal rights.

While the match fees have equalised, the contractual salaries of India’s female players are still lower than those of the male players. 

Indian junior coach and former national cricketer Latika Kumari said even just a few years ago, players would have to buy their own food on tours while the male team was flying business class to matches.

“More and more girls can adopt this game as a career, so financially they will be strong and parents don’t have to worry about their daughters and what they will do after cricket.”

Sportswomen elsewhere are making progress, but there are big gaps

India’s female cricketers want this to set an example for the rest of the world.

Australia’s women’s side are among the best-paid female athletes in the country, but Cricket Australia has acknowledged there is still a “big gap” between the men’s and women’s leagues.

In 2021, Cricket Australia announced an increase in base salaries for the domestic league players.

“But there’s still a gap, there’s still a really big gap, as compared to their male counterparts,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said at the time.

“And we want to keep striving to make it a really attractive and credible full-time professional career for our up-and-coming female cricketers.”

Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry is widely considered to be one of the greatest female cricketers in the world, having made history as the youngest Australian to play international cricket at just 16.

She says she’s seen the sport develop for women since she made her debut.

“I just think it’s an evolution,” she said.

“Consider where we’ve come from in the last five or six years and, excitingly and encouragingly, where we’re headed. It’s still progressing.

“I think it reflects a lot of societal change as well, more generally speaking, in terms of the place of women in the workplace, and the equality that we always talk about.

“So from that point of view, I think there’s a lot more that needs to be done, but we’re just going to keep making sure that we continue to push, to develop.”

Perry and her teammates have celebrated India’s new pay deal, with seam bowler Megan Schutt saying she hopes Australia will soon be in a position to follow suit.

“I’ve got my fingers crossed,” she said.

“I don’t think it’ll be in my lifetime. I’m towards the back end of my career now.

“When I first started it was semi-professional and we were barely getting paid. So I’m happy where I am now, but hopefully it keeps progressing in the future.”

The nail-biting result from the second match of the series in front of a sold-out crowd sent a major message to critics who argue women’s sport isn’t as exciting to watch as men’s.

“I think this is one of the most entertaining games we’ve all been a part of,” star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana said.

Schutt says the bigger crowds are the result of wider promotion and support — both teams’ captains emblazoned the front of major newspapers and billboards around Mumbai in the lead-up to the first matches.

“It made for one hell of an atmosphere,” she said.

“Obviously lots of things like resources come into play, and it means that we can train full time like we have been able to for the last five years, and … since we’ve done that we’ve had a lot of success.”

Top cricketers still face cultural hurdles about women’s roles

While India’s pay deal will mean players can focus solely on cricket instead of working extra jobs to make ends meet, there are still societal hurdles about women playing cricket.

“Family comes into this picture always because in India there isn’t equality between boys and girls,” Kumari said.

“This happens in women’s sports, not just in cricket, but in women’s sports.

“Thankfully, my family supported me really well throughout the years, but I have seen some girls, because of family pressure, they cannot pursue this career.

“This pay decision can make them [support] their daughters to play cricket as a career.”

Women’s cricket coach GS Harry, who started one of the first academies for aspiring female cricketers in India in 1999, says parental fears have been a big barrier for girls in the sport.

“We face problems sometimes as parents are not open for girls to play. They are always concerned about safety. Some parents even stay here until practice sessions are over,” he said.

“With the help of this pay deal, live telecasting of matches and media spotlight, the young girls and their parents are encouraged to join cricket.

“Parents now feel their daughters are not less than their sons.”

Overall, the gender pay gap in India has been narrowing, but the pandemic did put a dent in that progress.

According to the World Inequality Report 2022, the ratio of men and women in India is almost equal, but men earn 82 per cent of the country’s labour income.

It ranks among the worst in the world for gender equality when it comes to income.

Players say they hope equal pay in a game that dominates the sport-obsessed nation will set an example for the rest of the country.

“Sport is sport, female or male they’re both doing their hard work as physical, hard work and skills,” Kumari said.

“It’s on a similar page now. If we get the same thing, we should give the same thing to the rest of the country.”

While women’s cricket still has a long way to go in reaching the same status as the men’s game, the next generation of female cricketers in India are feeling the benefits of the work of their predecessors.

Komal Kirad, currently training at the GS Harry Cricket Academy, hopes to play for the Indian national team one day.

“This is a good decision … better late than never,” she said.

“Now we are equals so future players will have that sense of equality when they play … they feel proud and they’re getting encouragement to play for India.

“People say it is very good that you are playing cricket … they feel proud that when boys play cricket, girls can too.”