Equal Pay A Massive Step, Not Only For Present Cricketers But Also For The Next Generation: Anjum Chopra
After BCCI Secretary Jay Shah announced that Indian women cricketers will be paid equally to their male counterparts praises came from all over. Ex-India skipper Anjum Chopra highlights its impact.
Former Indian women's cricket team captain Anjum Chopra called the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) to grant equal pay to men and women cricketers a "massive step". The ambidextrous cricketer, speaking to ABP Live, said the announcement will impact the current players and also "encourage" a new crop of budding cricketers to take up the sport as a viable career option.
BCCI on Thursday announced equal match fees for its centrally-contracted female and male players in a bid to promote gender equality. As per the new system, the Indian women's cricketers will now receive Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI, and Rs 3 lakh per T20I, the same as their male counterparts. Earlier, the women players were paid Rs 1 lakh each for ODIs and T20Is while the match fee for a Test was Rs 4 lakh.
Anjum Chopra On BCCI Pay Decision
Hailing the BCCI move, Anjum Chopra said: "This is a massive step for BCCI to increase the pay structure or have pay parity with men's cricket is brilliant. For (the) board (BCCI) to think about it like that, whether it is in form of encouragement or incentive or whichever way you look at it, that's a massive step, a good step, an encouraging step — not only for the present cricketers but even for the next generation of the cricketers."
In terms of its impact, BCCI's pay decision will lead to the growth of female cricketers at grassroot levels, especially those who couldn't pursue the game due to lesser financial security earlier, the former cricketer said.
"The straightaway impact I see in the long run or the immediate future of the players is like a young female player who is wanting to play the sport, they will not feel shy in admitting or looking at it as a career," Chopra told ABP Live.
"We all know that when you play for India, that's the pinnacle of it. Playing for India as a cricketer is the highest point that you want to achieve. When you play for India you are rewarded the maximum. Not that you are not rewarded at a lower level (domestic cricket) but you are rewarded maximum because you are representing your country. So I see this (BCCI move), a lot of parents see this as a viable career option. And this encouragement will lead to more younger players taking this sport for a longer period of time," she said.
Elaborating, Chopra added: "If it was a female cricketer who thought that after 15,16 years or after her college days are over and she is not able to really lengthen her cricket playing career after her college or after once she finishes her education, here is an opportunity because the women's IPL is slated to come next year, then there's an option that if you continue performing well then you are able to make that team or whichever might way you are continuing for your state or your franchise if you are playing well, you will play for India. And then obviously when you are playing for India you are rewarded well, you are taken care of because of the better pay structure. That's a very nice encouragement for the sport and for the next generation or even the present generation."
'No Comparison': Anjum Chopra On Then And Now
During her initial days of playing cricket, Anjum Chopra said, there was a gap evident in the facilities but things were more or less were the same as now towards the end of her career.
"There's no comparison... I am not even in a position where I can compare when I started or what it is today... There's no comparison, but yes by the time I finished my career as a cricketer I had the same facilities (as the current lot has)."
Anjum Chopra said: "BCCI had taken over women's cricket, the ICC was running women's sports as well, and the infrastructure, grounds, stadiums, travel, logistics everything was at par..."
Next Generation Of Women Cricketers
The former Indian captain said the current Indian women's squad is young and inexperienced. As the players are cementing their position in the Indian squad, there will be a new wave of generational players, Chopra believes.
"There are no Anjum Chopras, there are no Mithali Rajs, there's no Jhulan Goswami coming through — that's for sure. Everyone, whether it is on the present lot, there's a Deepti Sharam or there's a Jemimah Rodriguez or a Smriti Mandhana or a Shefali Verma everyone will make their own name," she told ABP Live.
"I can safely say that A) you should not be a template to another person and B) I do feel that which I still feel today, that the 2005 World Cup team was a much better team than the 2017 World Cup team. Both of us lost the finals, both teams lost the finals. Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were the only two members constant members from 2005 and 2017...I think the players themselves know that we had a better team and a better chance. But I think they gave away on a platter we didn't in South Africa," Chopra continued.
Asked who she thinks are the players to watch out for, she said: "...the players we should watch out for are already playing for this team...It is a pretty young squad, that Indian women are there. Probably the most experienced players are the top three players which are Haramanprret, Deepti and Smriti and everyone else is still finding their feet around."
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