It’s a hopeful time for young girls who love cricket. India has been running on cricket fuel since the women’s cricket team brought the world cup home on November 2nd 2025.
My 12-year-old has just started training at Lord’s, the same ground where legends have played. When I was her age, I was a cricket fanatic. I went to every single match at Eden Gardens with my father, who quizzed me on fielding positions (I still think it should be 4th slip, not gully). But what I really wanted was to join the boys in post–math-tuition street cricket. Alas, most days when I was allowed, I was sent to the farthest fielding position possible. If I complained, I was made third umpire.
Now don’t laugh – I was once made to stand as the trophy! In essence the one who watches, never plays.
So yes, this week feels extraordinary. India is celebrating our women’s World Cup win, and for once, their names are everywhere. But even in the celebration, we look for validation from men. Some of the highest impression reels show us Virat Kohli’s video call to the team. And a lot of them pan out to Rohit Sharma’s reactions right after a significant feat from the cricketers on field. To get mileage we measure legitimacy through men’s applause.
And while everyone says, “Girls can finally dream,” the truth is not equally. Not yet.
When Mithali Raj led India to the 2005 World Cup final, she once shared that players were paid only ₹1,000 per match. Years later, she would walk into an empty press conference in Bengaluru after leading India to yet another win, a reminder of how little space women’s cricket was once given. Two decades later, the BCCI has taken steps; equal match fees were announced in 2022 but the gap remains wide in annual contracts and endorsements. Virat Kohli’s top-grade contract earns him up to ₹7 crore annually, while leading women players receive ₹50 lakh.
Beyond India, the pattern repeats. In England’s The Hundred, male players earn up to £100,000, while women make £15,000. Even the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) reported a 40.8% gender pay gap in 2023.
Even the boards that shaped cricket’s legacy still reflect the gap.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s 2024 report revealed a 40.8% gender pay gap, in favour of men, across roles, including players.
And at the very home of cricket, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), their latest report showed women earning 6.29% less per hour than men. The number is improving, yes, but it’s a reminder that even the most iconic grounds haven’t levelled their own pitch yet.
But the inequity isn’t just in numbers it’s in the stories behind them.
Take Renuka Thakur, who comes from a small Himachali village where her late father, a cricket lover, drove a water tanker. Or Amanjot Kaur, who grew up in Mansa, Punjab, her father, a carpenter, once handcrafted her first cricket bat because the family couldn’t afford to buy one.
It’s poetic, then, that as Hyderabad celebrates this World Cup the city where Mithali Raj trained, also consistently records some of the highest cases of domestic violence in India (as per NCRB data, 2023).
So before we call this equality, maybe let’s just call it what it is progress, still unfinished.
Because behind every boundary and every medal, there’s still a quiet reminder of what Mithali once said: “When we reached the World Cup final, we were paid ₹1,000 per match.”
We’ve come far. But for India’s girls to not just watch from the boundary, we still have a long way to go.