The recent contract of players announced by The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) generated lots of enthusiasm among the netizens and other general masses in equal measure. The subject was bound to generate such excitement as the wage between the male and female cricketers was starkly unequal. Here is the list-
Some of them even went to the extent of calling the BCCI as "misogynist". Others too criticised BCCI with even more harshness. It is understandable and even a good sign that people are voicing their concerns for women's rights. In a society like India, which is predominantly patriarchal, such support for women from different corners is indeed a very progressing sign and a moment of celebration. However, before judging BCCI in this particular aspect, let us pause for a moment and take a step backward to understand the various aspects of Indian cricket.
Secondly, even looking at the present situation, the bashing on social media seems to be less-than-justified. This is because men's cricket players play for an average of 250 days cricket. This takes a heavy toll on their family life, physical fitness. Moreover, they are continuously under scanner and cannot afford even a single error. Otherwise, the over-enthusiastic media personnel and also the cricket-loving people do not leave any stone unturned in giving sudden verdict. A quick recap would make us remember that players home had been stoned or blackened by overzealous cricket fans. Such instances of madness, if I may call so, has not been observed in women's cricket even at an iota level. Not that I want the same for them, but I am taking this example to simply compare the level of progress the men's cricket have made in a challenging ecosystem.
Thirdly, and most importantly, the men's cricket is much more organised at present. There is a complete system viz. domestic and international cricket. The domestic level cricket is well-established with greater competition. For eg. The Ranji Trophy was started in the 1934-1935 itself. There are other tournaments as well to prepare the domestic players for the international matches. Some of them include the Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and so on. The plate is full for all round development of the male players in India at various age groups. However, there are not many domestic competition for women. Two of them are- Senior Women's One Day League and Inter-State women's Twenty20 Competition. All this suggests that the competition level among male players are way greater than female cricket.
In my humble opinion, therefore, the focus should be on improving the women's cricket. In this case, BCCI has a greater role to play. The beginning has already been made. The match fees at the domestic level cricket has been increased. This has, as the former Indian Women Cricket captain Ms. Diana Edulji says, the potential to attract players from the grassroot level, from the small town who look for certainty and stability in career.
Moreover, as is also being suggested, there can be inter-school tournaments in every city, talent hunt programs in every village can be launched so as to look for promising players, who do not come out of their comfort zone due to lack of awareness and a holding hand to support them. Not only this, the Board also needs to introduce training for the selected and motivated ones. In this respect, the former captain held that a plan is being made to train the players at the National Cricket Academy in the domain of pace bowling, spin and wicket-keeping.
Well, in the medium-term then, the BCCI should also collaborate with the broadcasters to make the reach of women's cricket more broad-based and accessible to the general public. People should be able to watch the game of cricket with same enthusiasm that is witnessed in case of men's cricket. In this direction, sooner than latter, India can also introduce Big Bash League (BBL) or Indian Premier League (IPL) like competition for women in India as well. Success in the IPL shows that India has the ability to venture in this direction as well without much difficulty.
At the end, only the performance speaks. If players keep performing well, it is certain to generate interest among the cricket-lovers. The 2017 world cup runners-up tag should only become a launching pad and not an event to compare the wages between male and female cricketers. As the number of win increases, the pay gap will automatically decrease and might even become equitable in the near future. However, till the time such situation arises, let us all enjoy and support the #womeninblue to scale new heights in future.
Sources:
1. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/sports/cricket/110318/cricketing-wage-gap-in-focus.html
2. https://www.thequint.com/sports/cricket/gender-pay-gap-in-cricket-mithali-raj-virat-kohli
3. http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22718443/india-women-make-pay-grade-last
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Big_Bash_League
Some of them even went to the extent of calling the BCCI as "misogynist". Others too criticised BCCI with even more harshness. It is understandable and even a good sign that people are voicing their concerns for women's rights. In a society like India, which is predominantly patriarchal, such support for women from different corners is indeed a very progressing sign and a moment of celebration. However, before judging BCCI in this particular aspect, let us pause for a moment and take a step backward to understand the various aspects of Indian cricket.
In this respect, firstly, let us understand that men's cricket was not built overnight. The victory at Lords in 1983 was one euphoria moment for the Indian men's cricket. Since then, the men's cricket has progressed in small steps to the current position of arguably the world champions. The men's team at present even holds the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the 2013 ICC Championship Trophy. The women's cricket is yet to touch these feats which their counterpart has achieved. They are yet to produce a Sachin Tendulkar or a Kapil Dev or a MS Dhoni.
Secondly, even looking at the present situation, the bashing on social media seems to be less-than-justified. This is because men's cricket players play for an average of 250 days cricket. This takes a heavy toll on their family life, physical fitness. Moreover, they are continuously under scanner and cannot afford even a single error. Otherwise, the over-enthusiastic media personnel and also the cricket-loving people do not leave any stone unturned in giving sudden verdict. A quick recap would make us remember that players home had been stoned or blackened by overzealous cricket fans. Such instances of madness, if I may call so, has not been observed in women's cricket even at an iota level. Not that I want the same for them, but I am taking this example to simply compare the level of progress the men's cricket have made in a challenging ecosystem.
Thirdly, and most importantly, the men's cricket is much more organised at present. There is a complete system viz. domestic and international cricket. The domestic level cricket is well-established with greater competition. For eg. The Ranji Trophy was started in the 1934-1935 itself. There are other tournaments as well to prepare the domestic players for the international matches. Some of them include the Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and so on. The plate is full for all round development of the male players in India at various age groups. However, there are not many domestic competition for women. Two of them are- Senior Women's One Day League and Inter-State women's Twenty20 Competition. All this suggests that the competition level among male players are way greater than female cricket.
In my humble opinion, therefore, the focus should be on improving the women's cricket. In this case, BCCI has a greater role to play. The beginning has already been made. The match fees at the domestic level cricket has been increased. This has, as the former Indian Women Cricket captain Ms. Diana Edulji says, the potential to attract players from the grassroot level, from the small town who look for certainty and stability in career.
Moreover, as is also being suggested, there can be inter-school tournaments in every city, talent hunt programs in every village can be launched so as to look for promising players, who do not come out of their comfort zone due to lack of awareness and a holding hand to support them. Not only this, the Board also needs to introduce training for the selected and motivated ones. In this respect, the former captain held that a plan is being made to train the players at the National Cricket Academy in the domain of pace bowling, spin and wicket-keeping.
Well, in the medium-term then, the BCCI should also collaborate with the broadcasters to make the reach of women's cricket more broad-based and accessible to the general public. People should be able to watch the game of cricket with same enthusiasm that is witnessed in case of men's cricket. In this direction, sooner than latter, India can also introduce Big Bash League (BBL) or Indian Premier League (IPL) like competition for women in India as well. Success in the IPL shows that India has the ability to venture in this direction as well without much difficulty.
At the end, only the performance speaks. If players keep performing well, it is certain to generate interest among the cricket-lovers. The 2017 world cup runners-up tag should only become a launching pad and not an event to compare the wages between male and female cricketers. As the number of win increases, the pay gap will automatically decrease and might even become equitable in the near future. However, till the time such situation arises, let us all enjoy and support the #womeninblue to scale new heights in future.
Sources:
1. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/sports/cricket/110318/cricketing-wage-gap-in-focus.html
2. https://www.thequint.com/sports/cricket/gender-pay-gap-in-cricket-mithali-raj-virat-kohli
3. http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22718443/india-women-make-pay-grade-last
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Big_Bash_League
8 comments:
Also important to understand is the economics of sports. Similar comparisons have been made in other fields like Indian film industry etc. The salary is proportional to the revenue generation potential. If the consumption of female sports increases so will their salaries. Do people want to cross subsidize the female sports from the revenue surplus or male sports? Will the women feel empowered by getting paid from the earnings of their male counterparts? However one must acknowledge that it is the patriarchy of thousands of years which is getting reflected in economic space. Rather than criticising BCCI for not making supply side changes one must look inwards and create behavioural changes in society to create demand for female sports.
Considering the fact that women do not have achievements like their male national team, but nothing justifies the almost"1000%" pay disparity, especially after their brilliant run in recent times during and after world cup(eg they beat SA and England on third home turf).
U said they have not produced players like Sachin Tendulkar or dhoni, but one should definitely look at the stats where mithali Raj is the highest run getter in women cricket(like Sachin in men's category) and jhulan goswami-worlds highest wicket taker and fastest bowler(no jndian male player has achieved such feat).
Never the less it is heartening to see that women cricket has also attracted some spectators and are performing well and if that continues this pay diaparity is likely to be narrowed down.
@Shivansh. Thank You for reading. You raised a very valid point. I would have liked to include this perspective in my article had this occured to me at the time of writing. In deed the bigger picture should be looked into. In this case, BCCI is only a means and represents the society at a miniature level. Wage difference is only a symptom of a bigger problem. Cure must also lie in resolving the root problem, which is the male-dominated idea in everything from cricket to bollywood to other fields.
@Unknown. Thank you for reading the article. I think regarding the wage disparity and its severeness, it is a matter of debate. It is true that we have the highest run scorer and also highest wicket taker at the present time. Hence, they have been recognised and their wage is one of the highest in the world among the women cricketers. Comparison, in my humble opinion, should be made at similar level.
I think it will take time for women cricketers to reach the level of men's cricket. Also, at this point of time comparison between them seems fruitless to me. Let the women cricket grow organically step-by-step. BCCI should be able to shoulder the responsibility to bring abut a change at the grassroot level so that more female cricketers can be produced.
Nice article. I agree that tangible wins and success in international events is one of the major factors in increasing the viewership of any sports. Take the example of badminton in India and its growing craze in South India especially in Telengana. But at the same time, while tracing the growth story of any sports, we have to compare it with itself and also with other sports played in India. It will be interesting to see what is the growth in the average salary for women cricketers in the past few decades. Also, it will be insightful to compare the same with the growth of salaries for sportspersons (both male and female) engaged in other sports in India. The issue has multidimensional aspects viz. economic, social, cultural, administrative, and inter-sports preferences of the viewers. Thus, it needs to be seen via multidimensional lense. Best of luck!
@Mohit. Thank You for reading this article. I completely agree to your insights. It is in deed a multidimensional phenomena. I read somewhere that badminton players like Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu take home more salary than their male counterparts. It is because of their performances. Hence, it is suggested that BCCI should focus on improving the structure of female cricket and generate greater interest among the audience. Thanks!
This blog very intelligently justified the higher wages for male players as compared to their female counterparts.However, in order to justify his claims author triumphed the achievement of man in blue and conveniently ignored the same for the opposite. I don't want to indulge in the discussion of low wages and high wages but I want to put few points which you missed.First thing first men's cricket team is an organized and very well funded structure since 1926 however BCCI merged with Indian women's cricket team much later (women's team played first match in 1976, merger happened in 2006 that too after ICC guideline). Which shows the clear ignorant behavior of BCCI towards women cricket.Further, in point 2 as the author pointed out that women play less than the man so for that i want to say that match organising thing is BCCI jobs not the players job. Further, whenever given a chance player performed well ( This years states show women played 3 ODIs and won 2, and also won 2 T20I, 1 draw out of 4 played).Further womens team is 6 times champion in asia cup. I do agree women team has a long way to go in order to establish itself and its not wise to compere the indian men and women cricket team but again the way you justified i don't agree.
@Unknown. Thanks for reading my article. I do appreciate your point of view. In fact, I also argued that BCCI should make greater attempt to prepare solid platform for the women's cricket by encouraging players even from small towns and villages.
At the same time, the number of matches and their broadcasting also needs more focus. If the basics are followed, I think wage disparity will reduce and might even become equal in future.
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