The scrutiny over BCCI increased on Sunday as Telegraph Sport revealed that the Indian women’s team is yet to receive prize money from last year’s T-20 World Cup. The Indian team had finished as runners-up in the tournament after suffering defeat against hosts Australia at a jampacked Melbourne Cricket Ground. According to WION, BCCI has confirmed that these dues will be cleared later this week.
As per Telegraph, the total amount received by the Indian team was in the region of $500,000. All players owed an equal share of this prize money. Cricket Australia had already cleared the dues as the Australian players collectively got $1.6 million. This report further highlighted the mismanagement of the women’s team by BCCI.
The Indian cricket board has been getting scrutiny after releasing the latest list of contracted players. BCCI reduced the list to 19 players and there have been big disparity amongst the salaries of men’s and women’s team. There was also criticism about the difference between the preparations for men’s and women’s teams for the upcoming tour of England.
The Indian team didn’t play international cricket for more than 12 months due to the pandemic, but other cricket boards managed to resume cricket for women much earlier than BCCI. The Indian cricket board arranged the ODI series and T-20 series against South Africa in India during March 2021 to mark the return to international cricket.
BCCI needs to be more proactive if they want to fulfill the promise of promoting the Indian women’s team. Better facilities and wages would be the first step towards giving the team the right platform to achieve greater heights in international cricket. The Indian team’s immediate focus will shift towards a long tour of England as they will play test cricket after a gap of seven years. BCCI has also announced a test match against Australia later this year.