Hours after BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced that the cricket board was starting a pay parity policy by giving international women cricketers the same match fee as men, Shah Rukh Khan praised the move. Shah Rukh, who owns multiple cricket teams including the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, is a known cricket fan. The actor called sport a ‘great equaliser’ and hoped the decision will inspire other boards to do the same. Also read: Anushka Sharma, Taapsee Pannu celebrate BCCI’s decision to give equal match fee to women and men
On Thurday evening, Shah Rukh took to Twitter and shared Jay Shah’s original announcement, writing, “What a good front foot shot. Sports being such an equaliser ( in more ways than one ) hoping it will pave the way for others to follow.”
Earlier in the day, Jay Shah had tweeted a picture of the Indian women’s team with the Asia Cup trophy. He wrote alongside, “I’m pleased to announce @BCCI’s first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers. The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Cricket.
Anushka Sharma and Taapsee Pannu had earlier praised the move as well. Both actors have played female cricketers on screen. Taapsee was recently seen in Shabash Mithu, the biopic of former Indian captain Mithali Raj. Anushka, on the other hand, will be seen next in Chakda Xpress, the biopic of Mithali’s teammate and fast bowler Jhulan Goswami.
Indian women cricketers have been earning far less than their male counterparts in terms of match fees and central contracts. The first has been addressed by the BCCI now but the disparity in the second still stands. Centrally contracted female cricketers make anywhere between ₹10-50 lakh per annum. The men earn ₹1-7 crore in comparison.
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