Former Cricketer, Mithali Raj Reveals How Much Fees Players Used To Get Before Coming Under BCCI

It's one of the proudest moments for Indians as the Indian Women’s Cricket team lifted the 2025 Women’s World Cup with a 52-run victory over South Africa. Harmanpreet Kaur took the final catch with tears flowing through the eyes of her teammates as they sprinted across the ground in happiness and disbelief that they made history.

Former Indian captain, Mithali Raj, made a shocking revelation about the players’ fees

Amid the Indian women’s cricket team’s iconic win, a clip of former Indian captain Mithali Raj is doing the rounds, in which she speaks about the fee each player receives before joining the BCCI. During an interaction with Lallantop, Mithali was asked about each player's contract. Speaking about the same, she revealed that there was no contract before the BCCI.

The cricketer also shed light on the meagre pay each player received per match when they were the runners-up at the 2005 World Cup. In her words:

“Annual contract to tha hi nahi, annual contract to BCCI ke under hi aaya hai. There was no match fees, hume koi match fees nahi tha. If I am not wrong, jab hum 2005 runners-up the, when we came back after being runners-up in the 2005 World Cup, we were given Rs. 1000 per match. So we played about eight games. So, humko koi match fee nahi tha us waqt. There was absolutely no money in the sport. Wo to abhi aaya hai when we came under BCCI, to shuru hua per series, pe game and recently pay equity aayi.”

When the BCCI introduced pay parity between men and women cricketers

Beyond the glitter of the confetti, the women’s team’s win was more of a validation they got a few years back. Back in October 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a bold move during its 15th Apex Council meeting to introduce pay parity between men and women cricketers. They decided that the Indian women cricketers, too, will receive the same match fees as the male cricketers.

There were many arguments during that time, as many stated that Women’s cricket didn’t yield any major event or revenue. With time, the criticisms grew louder with trolls targeting BCCI. Two years later, when the Women’s team lifted the coveted trophy, it was their answer to all the haters. They repaid the faith the BCCI showed in them.

To watch the video, click here.

What do you think about Mithali Raj’s shocking claims about women cricketers’ pay before coming under the BCCI?

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