Celebrating the triumphs and achievements of women, the world observed International Women's Day on March 8. However, a shocking news from the cricket world angered Twitterati. On Wednesday (March 7), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced new contracts for its players and a revised salary structure. The board introduced a new A+ category and included some of the ace players including skipper Virat Kohli and offered a new salary of whopping Rs 7 crore. The newly introduced tier has five names and contains all male players. As if that was not enough to startle sports buffs, the massive gender pay gap irked Netizens and they couldn't help but express their anguish on social media. While the male players in Grade C category earn Rs 1 crore per annum, the female players - even after being in Grade A - are restricted to just Rs 50 lakhs. In the new system, all Grade A male players will be getting Rs 5 crore each annually, while Grade B and Grade C male players will receive an annual package of Rs 3 crore each and Rs 1 crore each respectively. Sadly, none of their female colleagues have touched the crore mark. Can you believe it? Well, the glaring difference left BCCI at the receiving end. The announcement came to light on the eve of Women's Day and Twitterati couldn't stop highlighting the irony. Many slammed the board for being misogynist and biased. What's more, many even claimed that the blatant discrimination is why gender equality is far from being a reality. #TeamIndia Senior Women retainership fee structure: Grade A players to receive INR 50 lacs each Grade B players to receive INR 30 lacs each Grade C players to receive INR 10 lacs each pic.twitter.com/u05YDFocWN — BCCI (@BCCI) March 7, 2018 #TeamIndia Senior Men retainership fee structure: Grade A+ players to receive INR 7 cr each Grade A players to receive INR 5 cr each Grade B players to receive INR 3 cr each Grade C players to receive INR 1 cr each — BCCI (@BCCI) March 7, 2018 Shaming the board on Twitter, Tweeple attacked BCCI and demanded that the pay structure to be revised at earliest. What an amazing (shall I say "INSULTING"..??) gift from @BCCI for @BCCIWomen cricket team..!! Men's "GRADE C" getting double (₹1cr) pay than that of the "GRADE A" (₹50L) of Women's Cricket..!! #HappyWomensDay — Harshad Bhuwad (@BhuwadHarshad) March 8, 2018 This is the reward that you get for reaching the world cup final!? Shocking to see such a pay gap between senior Indian men and women cricketers. Shame on you @BCCI for such double standards. — Roshan (@RoshanPati1) March 8, 2018 Women cricket team play very good but captain @M_Raj03 still not getting even 10% of @imVkohli remuneration. @BCCI should atleast think about it. #WomensDay #TimeIsNow for Gender equality. @Ra_THORe @PMOIndia. Only wishes on 8 March will not make them proud. #EndDiscrimination pic.twitter.com/fNHUD9J9Mq — Anilkumar Panchariya (@cs_anilsharmam) March 8, 2018 What a desparity between Indian women & men cricket that too on the eve of world women day. Bcci chief should be sacked from his post. — Ajay Kumar Tiwari (@AjayKum89371689) March 8, 2018 Talking about equal pay, the @BCCI @BCCIWomen released the pay structure for 2018 for men and women cricket players. The grade A+ men get 7 crores as remuneration while the women players in the A+ category get 50 Lacs, this is absurd. #WomensDay #InternationalWomenDay — Rajesh RV (@Pure_Chutzpah) March 8, 2018 Happy womens day. 5 crore for Male cricket player 50 lakh for female cricket players. Welldone #bcci for world class payment scale for mans and womens.soon may be in 2550 will get equal payment.#BCCI #InternationalWomensDay #biased #Equality — Dr Nitin Mishra (@DrNitinMishra2) March 8, 2018 Happy Womens Day!! Hope this does not pin points inequality among the players of same sport. #HappyWomensDay #Cricket @BCCI @BCCIWomen pic.twitter.com/eHH58IExZx — Sandeep Yadav (@sandeepy571) March 8, 2018 @BCCI @imVkohli @msdhoni @ImRo45 @SDhawan25 @ashwinravi99 Any comments in the massive pay gap between Indian men & women cricket players? Do not be silent on this, please call out on this hypocrisy. Happy Woman's Day! pic.twitter.com/gQqtWk7Dr0 — Puneet Prakash (@nirdeshak) March 8, 2018 There is something wrong in this world when men's Grade C player is paid higher than women's Grade A player. @M_Raj03 is more valuable player .I would say she's better than most of the current male players n serving Indian cricket for long.@BCCI @BCCIWomen #HappyWomensDay 😑😑 — Arpit Jain (@ArpitJ_) March 8, 2018 The kind of insane money that @BCCI makes; telecast or no telecast; they should have completely wiped out this humiliating pay gap. To add insult to injury; they chose to declare such blaring discrimination right on the eve of #InternationalWomenDay . — Yashwant Deshmukh (@YRDeshmukh) March 8, 2018 Dear @BCCI please show your appreciation for women's cricket by reducing this appalling pay gap. And please negotiate contracts for telecast of their matches. We have an excellent team that a lot of us fans regret not being able to watch perform regularly. pic.twitter.com/rlPMmuTtcU — Nikhil Mehra (@TweetinderKaul) March 7, 2018 Jayant Yadav (very fine cricketer, and nothing against him) last played for India more than a year ago. That his retainer is worth twice what Mithali Raj's is says a lot about the way we continue to look at women's cricket. It's just not right. #BCCI — Dileep Premachandran (@SpiceBoxofEarth) March 7, 2018 Comparison of Salary between Men’s & Women’s Indian Cricket team. Hope @BCCI takes more steps to reduce this disparity! pic.twitter.com/I57AG7a6pN — Pankaj Ahuja (@panku_) March 7, 2018 However, it must be noted that for the first time since 2015, the women’s pay scale has been revised. Grade A retainer fee has been increased from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh each, Grade B from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh each, while Grade C has been introduced for Rs 10 lakh each.
