It has been just over a month since India Women won their historic title in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025, marking their first ICC title. In this regard, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken a significant step in Indian women's domestic cricket.

Now, the BCCI has set the equal payment structures in domestic men's and women's cricket by significantly raising the domestic women's cricket payments. 

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Payment rising for domestic senior and junior women's cricket

As per the revised pay structure, the senior women's domestic one-day and multi-day games payment will be INR 50,000 per day for every playing XI member. Meanwhile, every non-playing XI member is set to earn INR 25,000 per match. In the meantime, for the domestic T20 format, the payment structure will be INR 25,000 per match for every playing XI member and INR 12,500 per match for every non-playing XI member.

Before the revised pay structure, every playing XI member is earning INR 20,000 per day, and every non-playing XI member is earning INR 10,000 per day. 

On the other hand, in junior women's cricket, the current pay structure is INR 10,000 per day for every playing XI member and INR 5,000 per day for every non-playing XI member. 

However, now the junior women's cricketers will also enjoy the highest payment structure. For junior women's tournaments, each of the playing XI members will earn INR 25,000 per day, and each of the reserves will earn INR 12,500 per day. Meanwhile, the T20 cricket payment structure will be INR 12,500 per match for every playing XI member, and INR 6,250 per match for every non-playing XI member. 

Payments will rise also for the umpires and match referees

On the other hand, the Apex Council has also suggested the revised pay structures for the domestic umpires and match referees.

For the domestic umpires and match referees, the revised pay structure claims that the umpires will earn INR 40,000 per day in the league stages of any tournament, while the payment will rise upto INR 50,000-60,000 per day in the knockout stages, depending on the tournament and match status. 

In a watershed decision to improve domestic cricket in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a big monetary reward for players who play the longer format of the game consistently. The board has said that any player who plays 14 first-class matches in a season will receive an additional match fee of ₹1 crore.

This decision was made at the BCCI's AGM in Mumbai and was reported by former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, a member of the Punjab Cricket Association and present at the AGM. Harbhajan said the decision will benefit domestic players, both in terms of financial security and the fact that it encourages players to commit to the rigour of first-class cricket.

"If a player plays 14 first-class matches, he will get an additional match fee of ₹1 crore. It will also be a great incentive for teams to make finals of domestic tournaments, and players will be incentivised to play as many matches as they can," Harbhajan said.

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BCCI introduces ₹1 crore reward to boost domestic cricket and support players

The initiative is viewed as a true game-changer for Indian cricket players at the grassroots level. While top-tier players abroad and those in the IPL are being well-compensated, many skilled domestic players do not have a financially rewarding contract and depend almost entirely on match fees. Cricketers like Abhimanyu Easwaran, who are not on any IPL team or BCCI central contracts, will gain the most advantage from this initiative.

The BCCI's actions demonstrate the board's commitment toward revitalizing the importance of domestic cricket, particularly the Ranji Trophy, which has historically been called the funnel for future India stars. By directly linking financial rewards to participation, the domestic tournaments will become more competitive as players will be more incentivized and serious when participating.

Aside from the new financial model, the AGM elected a new BCCI President, Mithun Manhas, a former captain of Delhi, who replaces Roger Binny. Man not only holds a wealth of knowledge and vision, but also holds over 9,700 first-class runs.

After introducing the incentive scheme, yet continuing to stay on-topic with the leadership change, the BCCI will make it clear about its intentions to empower domestic cricketers, grow competitiveness, and grow the developmental systems for India's future in cricket.