Over the past two years, women's cricket in India has seen revolutionary changes. From playing the first Pink-ball Test — against Australia in Carrara — to having their own lucrative T20 league in the form of Women's Premier League (WPL), women cricketers in the country have seen the Board tap into its immense potential. However, what stood out is the Board’s pay parity policy that came into being a few months ago. In an exclusive chat, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah, spoke on various aspects of the women’s game.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah spoke on various aspects of the women’s game (REUTERS)
Excerpts
The BCCI announced equal pay policy for India cricketers a few months ago…
When I first took over as BCCI secretary in October 2019, one of my top priorities was to strengthen women's cricket in India. Throughout my term, I had several discussions with our women cricketers to better understand their issues. The first significant step in this direction was announced in September 2021, when we increased match fees for our domestic cricketers. In fact, for women cricketers, the increment was nearly doubled. A committee was also formed to look into the compensation package for domestic cricketers for the 2020 and 2021 seasons and a compensation package was subsequently announced. The pay parity policy is a continuation of this effort and I believe it is a watershed moment in the history of Indian cricket.
WPL witnessed huge success. Did BCCI expect it to generate this kind of response?
The board had channelised all its effort towards creating a successful WPL. For the last 2-3 years, we were looking for an ideal window to launch WPL. Honestly, the success of the first season is not surprising as a lot of research had gone into it. We had done our groundwork. We spent R55 crore on brand-building and marketing to showcase a product we believed in and the results are there for everyone to see. If you look at the scale at which BCCI operates, we were very clear that WPL has to be the biggest women’s cricket league in the world. WPL made a big statement with a cumulative bid amount of R4669.99 crore (USD 572.78 million approx). Together with the media rights valuation of R951 crore (USD 116.7 million approx.), WPL became the second biggest cricket league in the world, second only to IPL. I am really glad that everyone invested in the concept.
What steps is BCCI taking to increase the scope of the women’s game?
We wanted to strengthen the structure of women's cricket and provide more opportunities for them to participate. While we are working hard at the grassroots level to attract more talented players, we are also looking to provide opportunities to cricketers who have recently retired. We are encouraging them to pursue careers in coaching, strength and conditioning, video analysis and broadcasting. We now have women umpires and match referees. It is encouraging to see many young girls taking on the role of official scorers. I don't think there is any field in cricket where women are not present.
There were reports that BCCI plans to conduct the next WPL around Diwali this year itself with a home and away format with a bigger window….
We started the season with five teams and the second edition too will have five teams. It is not ideal to tweak the format after just one season. Yes, Diwali is one window where WPL can be held and we are exploring our options. We will have to consider various factors before we switch to a home and away format. It is too early to commit to a format at this stage.
Will Indian women cricketers be allowed to compete in other T20 leagues? Will there be a mini-auction ahead of the next WPL?
India’s women cricketers have always featured in major overseas leagues be it Women’s Big Bash, Women’s Super League or The Hundred. Harmanpreet first played in WBBL in 2016. In 2021, we had as many as eight Indian players in the WBBL. A mini-auction will take place ahead of the second season. The five franchises will need to submit their list of released players and we will share the list of players who enrol for the auction ahead of the second season in the same manner as we do for IPL.
The Indian U-19 women’s team won the World Cup in South Africa. Will the U-19 team be competing more often in the coming months?
We had worked closely with selectors and coaches and laid out a meticulous plan for the girls. The preparation began well in advance and we ensured the players played maximum matches in the lead-up to the World Cup. The selectors had a big pool of players to choose from. The Shafali Verma-led unit showed tremendous skill and grit to overcome the challenges. Their success also highlights the depth of talent in the country and augurs well for the future. Some of the girls have already transitioned to India’s Emerging Teams squad and hopefully in time represent India with distinction.
What are BCCI’s plans for the upcoming Indian women’s domestic season?
We will have 1837 domestic games in the 2023-24 season, with 831 of them being women's match. There will be eight women's tournaments at the U-15, U-19, U-23 and senior levels. This season, we will also hold a U-19 Challenger tournament to help us identify a pool of players for the next ICC U-19 World Cup, which will be held in Malaysia and Thailand next year.
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