Smriti Mandhana
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana on Wednesday said that it will be “unfair” for the women’s team to ask for equal pay as Virat Kohli and Co bring in a lion’s share of the revenue.
Mandhana, the reigning ICC’s woman cricketer of the year, touched on the contentious issue of pay parity at the unveiling of Bata’s new range of shoes in Mumbai on Wednesday.
“We need to understand that the revenue we get is through men’s cricket. The day women’s cricket starts earning revenue, I will be the first person to say that we need the same thing. But right now, we can’t say that,” she told reporters.
The male cricketers in the top bracket on the Board of Control for Cricket in India central contracts list are entitled to an annual remuneration of Rs 7 crore, while a female cricketer in the highest category gets Rs 50 lakh for the same period.
“I don’t think any of my teammates are thinking about this [pay] gap because the only focus right now is to win matches for India, get the crowd coming in and earn revenues. That what we are aiming for, and if that happens, everything else will fall in place,” she said.
Mandhana, the reigning ICC’s woman cricketer of the year, touched on the contentious issue of pay parity at the unveiling of Bata’s new range of shoes in Mumbai on Wednesday.
“We need to understand that the revenue we get is through men’s cricket. The day women’s cricket starts earning revenue, I will be the first person to say that we need the same thing. But right now, we can’t say that,” she told reporters.
The male cricketers in the top bracket on the Board of Control for Cricket in India central contracts list are entitled to an annual remuneration of Rs 7 crore, while a female cricketer in the highest category gets Rs 50 lakh for the same period.
“I don’t think any of my teammates are thinking about this [pay] gap because the only focus right now is to win matches for India, get the crowd coming in and earn revenues. That what we are aiming for, and if that happens, everything else will fall in place,” she said.
