Harmanpreet Kaur's India earn record-shattering amount in prize money, 239% jump from last edition

Harmanpreet Kaur and team are set to receive from the largest prize pool in the history of the Women's World Cup.

India created history with their maiden women's cricket World Cup victory, beating South Africa by 52 runs in an emotional and deeply memorable final at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday night. The victory has been hailed as a potential watershed moment for cricket in India, marking the nation's first senior ICC trophy triumph in the women's game.

Harmanpreet Kaur receives the women's World Cup trophy from ICC chairman Jay Shah. (PTI)

The impact of the tournament is already greater than ever before, purely based on the prize pool on offer and the prize money that the Indian team will take away. The overall prize money on offer saw a fourfold increase from the last edition of this tournament, held in New Zealand in 2022: there was a total prize pool of 13.88 million US dollars (roughly INR 123 crore), up from 3.5 million US dollars three years ago.

Of this, the victorious Indian team is set to pocket a record-setting USD 4.48 million for their victory, which is nearly 40 crore Indian rupees. These figures stand on par, if not outright exceed, the prize money for the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup, an important benchmark to meet, given the importance of equal pay being afforded to women’s players at these major tournaments.

‘The reward won’t be anything less…'

Speaking to PTI, a BCCI source had also revealed that Harmanpreet Kaur’s team was in line to receive bonuses from the cricket board similar to how the men’s team had received following their own drought-breaking T20 World Cup win in 2024.

“The BCCI supports equal pay for men and women, and hence there are a lot of discussions that if our girls win the World Cup, the reward won't be anything less compared to the men's global triumph. But it isn't nice to make an announcement before they win the Cup,” the source had said, indicating the importance of investing in the women’s sport at both the grassroots and the very highest level.

The winners’ prize money has increased by 239% since the last edition, when Australia was awarded $1.32 million USD. Along with the Indian team’s whopping financial success, South Africa, as the runners-up of the tournament, earned a $ 2.24 million (INR 19.88 crore) consolation prize. The losing semifinalists, Australia and England, each receive $ 1.12 million.