When Harmanpreet Kaur lifted India’s first ICC Women’s World Cup trophy on November 2, 2025, it wasn’t just the culmination of a sporting dream it was the financial and institutional validation of a revolution decades in the making.
Behind that glittering night at the DY Patil Stadium stood a deeper story of structural reform, financial parity, and a bold new vision that has transformed women’s cricket in India from a neglected pursuit into a global economic and cultural force.
In 2022, when BCCI Secretary Jay Shah announced that women cricketers would receive the same match fees as their male counterparts ₹15 lakh per Test, ₹6 lakh per ODI, and ₹3 lakh per T20I the decision made global headlines.
But as many critics observed, the reform, while historic, was symbolic. True equality in sport isn’t achieved in the spotlight of a match fee; it lies in the quiet backbone of annual retainers, infrastructure, and opportunity.
Still, it was a crucial first step a declaration that Indian cricket was ready to treat its women as full professionals, not participants. And as Shah put it then, “This is not a gesture; this is a statement of where Indian cricket is heading.”
Three years later, India’s World Cup triumph and the ₹51 crore bonus that followed proved that the strategy had paid off.
The Real Divide: Retainers and Recognition
Beneath the headlines of equality, however, a stark disparity remains. The BCCI’s annual central contracts, which form the financial foundation of a cricketer’s livelihood, still tell an uneven story.
Men’s cricketers are divided into four grades, from ₹1 crore (Grade C) to ₹7 crore (Grade A+). Women, by contrast, have three grades ₹10 lakh, ₹30 lakh, and ₹50 lakh. In simple terms, a top-tier Indian woman cricketer earns less in retainer than a male cricketer in the lowest category.
That gap isn’t just financial it’s structural. Retainers are not a reward for performance; they’re the guarantee that athletes can train, travel, and dedicate their lives to the game without fear of financial instability. By keeping women’s retainers at a fraction of the men’s, the system still signals unequal institutional value, even as match fees and World Cup rewards catch the eye.
The ICC Revolution: When the Numbers Spoke Louder
Globally, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to overhaul its prize money structure for the 2025 Women’s World Cup was a landmark moment. The total prize pool rose from $3.5 million in 2022 to $13.88 million a 297% increase eclipsing even the men’s 2023 World Cup total of $10 million. The winners’ purse of $4.48 million, up from $1.32 million, also surpassed what England received for winning the men’s edition two years earlier.
For the first time, the women’s game wasn’t playing catch-up it had overtaken the men’s in tangible financial reward. The message was clear: women’s cricket was no longer a “development project.” It was a market, a product, and a powerhouse.
And India’s victory on home soil served as the perfect validation. The 2025 World Cup wasn’t just a triumph of sport it was a business case for equality.
The Engine of Change: The Women’s Premier League
If one institution deserves credit for fueling this revolution, it’s the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Launched in 2023, the WPL turned out to be more than just a domestic tournament it became an ecosystem.
Franchise sales generated a staggering ₹4669.99 crore, media rights were sold for ₹951 crore, and the league delivered annual surpluses of over ₹350 crore for the BCCI. The economic engine of the men’s IPL had found its sister success, and the results were transformative.
The WPL not only provided young players with financial stability even uncapped players earned a base of ₹10–20 lakh but also offered exposure to world-class talent and pressure-filled situations.
As ICC Chairman Jay Shah later said, “The WPL gave our players what no amount of training could the temperament to win finals.” That statement found its proof when Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, and Deepti Sharma all WPL-hardened led India’s 2025 World Cup campaign with fearless confidence.
The ₹51 Crore Reward: Validation of Vision
The BCCI’s immediate announcement of a ₹51 crore reward after the World Cup win marked one of the most significant financial gestures in Indian sports history. It wasn’t just a bonus; it was validation. The amount covered players, coaches, and support staff recognizing that systemic success is collective, not individual.
“This victory isn’t just about what happens on the field,” BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia said afterward. “It’s the result of years of investment in training, parity, and belief.” The reward confirmed a new paradigm: putting women on par with men wasn’t charity it was strategy, and it delivered both performance and profit.
Yet even amid celebration, experts warn of a structural imbalance the risk of an elite-heavy system. The WPL and the national team flourish, but the domestic base remains fragile. The BCCI invests ₹344 crore annually in men’s domestic cricket with ₹111 crore for the Ranji Trophy alone but women’s domestic cricket receives a fraction of that.
Without a full-fledged multi-day inter-state competition, the pathway between youth cricket and international representation remains thin. The next frontier of equality, therefore, isn’t in match fees or prize cheques it’s in grassroots investment and professionalisation at the domestic level.
As former captain Shantha Rangaswamy observed, “We’ve built the palace, but the foundation still needs strengthening.”
The transformation of Indian women’s cricket over the past five years is one of the most profound in global sport a case study in how strategic investment, media visibility, and equality of opportunity can transform a system. But for true equity, reforms must move beyond high-visibility rewards to the unseen scaffolding of the game contracts, coaching, and domestic competition.
India’s women have already conquered the world. The next mission is to ensure that every girl who dreams of wearing blue has the infrastructure, income, and opportunity to believe she can get there.
Because parity isn’t achieved when women win; it’s achieved when winning becomes normal.
