By Sruti Thakur | Updated: October 20, 2025 11:03 AM IST
India's narrow four-run loss to England in the 2025 Women's World Cup at Holkar Stadium, Indore, has sparked criticism of Harmanpreet Kaur's side. This marks their third consecutive defeat in the eight-team tournament, leaving the hosts facing a must-win scenario in their remaining matches against New Zealand and Bangladesh.
India looked in a strong position during the 289-chase against England on Sunday with Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet adding runs for the third wicket.
Despite Harmanpreet's wicket, Mandhana received strong backing from Deepti Sharma, leaving India needing just 62 runs from 10 overs with seven wickets in hand. India appeared on the brink of victory, but faltered in the final moments, leading to narrow defeats.
Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma has also faced criticism everytime they failed to score a century, while the same applies to players like Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and others. Consequently, members of the women's team should be held accountable for their performance.
However, misleading claims about equal pay are always being made, with many critics questioning the performance of the women's team. It is therefore important to set the record straight and present the facts clearly to the public.
The Indian women's team receives the same match fees as compared to the men's team. This was confirmed by then-BCCI secretary Jay Shah in 2022. Women cricketers in India earn Rs 15 lakh for a Test, Rs 6 lakh for an ODI, and Rs 3 lakh for a T20I
Taking to X, he wrote, "I'm pleased to announce @BCCI's first step towards tackling discrimination. We are implementing a pay equity policy for our contracted @BCCIWomen cricketers. The match fee for both Men and Women Cricketers will be the same as we move into a new era of gender equality in Cricket."
Talking about the central contracts list. The main difference lies here as Mandhana and Harmanpreet's annual incomes are far below those of Virat and Rohit.
For the 2024-2025 period, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja were included in the A+ category, while the women's team does not have an A+ category. The highest bracket for women is the A category, which currently includes only three players Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Deepti Sharma.
As per an official BCCI release, players in the A+ category earn Rs 7 crore, while those in the A, B, and C categories receive Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore, and Rs 1 crore, respectively.
For the women's team, A-category players earn Rs 50 lakh, with B- and C-category players earning Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively.