'Revenue comes from men's cricket, unfair to ask same pay'

Smriti Mandhana

Star Indian woman cricketer Smriti Mandhana is not bothered by a pay cheque lower than her male counterparts as she understands that the "revenue which we get is through men's cricket". Mandhana, the ICC's woman cricketer of the year, touched on the contentious issue of pay parity at the unveiling of Bata's new range of shoes in the city on Wednesday. "We need to understand that the revenue which we get is through men's cricket. The day women's cricket starts getting revenue, I will be the first person to say that we need the same thing. But right now, we can't say that," she told reporters.

The male cricketers in the top bracket on BCCI central contracts list are entitled to an annual remuneration of Rs 7 crore, while a female cricketer in the highest category gets Rs 50 lakh for the same period. "I don't think any of the teammates is thinking about this gap because the only focus right now is to win matches for India, get the crowd coming in, get the revenue. That is the thing which we are aiming for and if that happens all other things are going to fall in place,"
she said.

"And for that, we need to perform. It is unfair on our part to say that we need same pay, it is not right. So I don't think I want to comment on that gap," she added. India will play a tri-series before the World T20 begins in Australia and Mandhana feels that the tournament is important to finalise the team composition right for the big event next month.

"Most of them have played in Australia, so I think with India A touring Australia last month, that is also going to be a big help [as] four-five players were part of that team as well."

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