It will change now: Harmanpreet hopes for hike in value of women's contracts post WC triumph

New Delhi: The yawning gap never really bothered her as it was "driven by market forces" but India captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the BCCI men's and women's central contracts will now be closer in value following her team's path-breaking ODI World Cup triumph.

BCCI brought the match fee of women cricketers at par with men in 2022 but when it comes to central contracts, the numbers are not worth a comparison. However, Harmanpreet's teammate Smriti Mandhana has long believed that the payment structure is driven by market forces and the skipper agrees with that view.

The cricketers in the men's top tier are paid Rs 7 crore annually while the women are paid Rs 50 lakh.

"It will change now (the value of the central contracts). That's what I feel. A lot of changes came after 2017 (when India reached the final). Before that, our central contract was worth Rs 15 lakh," said the India captain during her visit to the PTI headquarters where she opened up about her journey and the growth of Indian women's cricket in an exclusive interview.

Majority of the revenue is generated by men's cricket, Harmanpreet acknowledged but after the women's ODI World Cup triumph earlier this month, she said change is already in motion.

"After the 2017 World Cup, it became Rs 50 lakh. After that, we couldn't prove ourselves much, especially in ICC events. Because at the end of the day, the main goal is ICC events.

"After winning this trophy, I am sure there will be a lot of improvements. And we will see financially also," added the first Indian women's team captain to be a World Cup-winner," she said.

"Before this, all the revenue was coming through men's cricket. We were grateful that BCCI made us a part of it and supported women's cricket when it needed the most." Harmanpreet said she has always been aware that only strong performances would compel market forces to pay women cricketers better.

"One thing that we always knew was that we will have to contribute and then only we can come to that point. Now we can talk about equal payment and equal recognition," she said.

"For that, we have to come to that point because we knew that they (the men) have improved their cricket so much over the years. They have won back-to-back trophies for the country. If their market value is higher than ours, then there must be some reason behind it," she said.

Harmanpreet said the market value of women cricketers has already gone up post the final in Navi Mumbai on November 2 in which they comprehensively defeated South Africa.

"Post November 2, the market value of women's cricket has gone up because of the trophy. If we had not won that trophy, we would still be stuck there.

"If we want to change, we have to come to that point that we win the same number of trophies for the country. Then people will automatically start giving us the same value as men get," said the India skipper.

It's not over yet: Harmanpreet on future

Harmanpreet is expected to captain the side in the 2026 T20 World Cup in the UK but will the 36-year-old be around when the next ODI World Cup takes time in four years' time? "See, winning the World Cup with the best team and supporters and in your home ground surely is a dream but yes it's not over yet. There's another trophy that awaits and we want to celebrate and move on to the next phase and work towards the next goal," she said.

India developing big pool of players

When asked about the way forward for the team and whether it needed a bigger pool of fast bowlers to consistently dominate the game, Harmanpreet struck a confident tone.

"We do have a team of fast bowlers and as we've seen how Kranti Goud and Shree Charani (spinner) did for our side. These youngsters gave us some great moments to celebrate. As a captain I never felt for once that I had to do hard work on them .

"They believed in themselves and delivered whenever they had to. Apart from that India is developing a huge pool of players and bowlers who in time will showcase their talent," the captain added.

The Jay Shah factor

Harmanpreet lauded ICC Chairman Jay Shah's contribution in the growth of Indian women's cricket during his tenure as BCCI secretary. Shah was credited with introducing pay parity in match fee and the introduction of the Women's Premier League.

"...Jay Shah has been the biggest contributor. He has been the biggest strength for our team, he supported us even when we hadn't won any ICC trophy," she said.

"We really wanted to do it for him. He gave us everything we needed, be it pay parity or any support. He couldn't express much on the ground when we won; he just said, 'I am very happy', and that was all we needed," she said.