Women's T20 World Cup 2020: No cash awards for the Indian cricket team yet?

The Indian women’s cricket team created history of sorts when they made it to the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Although they lost to hosts Australia, it was the first instance that the Indian eves had made it all the way to the last stage.

However, surprisingly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to announce any cash rewards for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. It’s been a few days since the final happened, the team has returned back home, albeit to an empty airport with no media or fans to welcome them home.

The BCCI is known to announce cash rewards for any major achievement in men’s cricket. In fact, when the U19 cricket team had returned from their triumphant World Cup campaign back in 2018, the members of Indian team were awarded Rs. 30 lakhs each and the members of the support staff got Rs. 20 lakhs each. The head coach, Rahul Dravid, was awarded with Rs 50 lakhs. And it had taken little time for the BCCI to announce these awards.

https://twitter.com/CricCrazyJohns/status/1237044943056539649

For the women’s team, things seem to be different though. There is hardly any mention on BCCI’s official Twitter handle about the women while it’s flooded with updates from the men’s team’s matches against South Africa.

The Indian women’s cricket team put up a brilliant show Down Under at the World Cup. They started off with a terrific win over Australia in the first match and then proceeded to carry the momentum right to the final. However, this time the Aussies showed why they had won the cup so many times already.

Powered by Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney’s opening partnership, they put up a huge total on the board. In reply, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet all faltered and the Indians were handed a heavy defeat. But they do deserve some recognition, some accolades. Only then will women’s cricket grow in the country and the gender gap will decrease.