After a brilliant run at the Women’s World Cup, the Indian players including the support staff are set to be rewarded for their achievement. The runners-up, who lost to England in the final at Lord’s on Sunday, will get $330,000 (Rs 2.12 crore) from the International Cricket Council (ICC) with England bagging $660,000 (Rs 4.25 crore).
On the eve of the final the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh for every player of the team. The support staff of the team will receive a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh each.
BCCI acting president CK Khanna had said, “The team has a good blend of young talent and experienced campaigners in Captain Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. The all-round performance was on display in the semi- final against Australia, who have won the World Cup six times. The fearless batting of Harmanpreet Kaur mirrors the team’s approach under pressure.”
However, members from the various state units feel that the girls deserve to be paid more. “I will propose that the cash award should be hiked to Rs 60 lakh for the players and Rs 30 lakh for the support staff. The girls have made us proud and they should rewarded adequately. I think no one should have any objection if they are being paid more,” a state unit representative from west zone had told PTI.
Kaur’s sublime knock of 171 runs in 115 balls against Australia in the semi-final has got her a job in the Punjab police. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh offer Kaur in the police force along with a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh. Singh offered Kaur the post of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) if she wanted to join the police force.
Singh will also review the sports policy of the state to undo the ‘injustice’ done to Kaur by the previous government which had refused to give her a job in Punjab police. Kaur went on to join the Indian Railways in Mumbai to sustain her career.
“That time a senior official in Punjab Police had told us that ‘she isn’t a Harbhajan Singh that we will give her a DSP post’. She wasn’t even granted the post of an inspector. We even met the chief minister, but to no avail,” said her coach Yadwinder Sodhi, reported Times of India.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu announced that the cricketers working for the railways will get out-of-turn promotions. The current women’s team squad has as many as 10 girls from the Railways including the captain Mithali Raj and Kaur. The others players that work for the railways are Ekta Bisht, Punam Raut, Veda Krishnamurthy, Poonam Yadav, Sushma Verma, Mona Mesharm, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Nuzhat Parween.
The players will also get cash prizes worth Rs 1.30 crore. Added to that, Kaur and Raj will be given post of Gazetted Officers in Railways.
The Himachal Pradesh government has also offered the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) to wicket-keeper Sushma Verma. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said in a statement, “Being proud of her achievement in the international cricket arena the state government has offered the post of deputy superintendent to Sushma Verma.”
The Madhya Pradesh government also announced Rs 50 lakh award for the team. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had tweeted, “MP Govt. Will felicitate @BCCIWomen World Cup team in a grand ceremony in Bhopal & award a prize of Rs. 50 lakhs.”
However, when the skipper was quizzed about the monetary benefits, she pointed towards the youngsters of the team, “If you were to ask me, I’ve been playing since 1999, when there were no monetary benefits. You must ask this to the players who’ve just come into the side,” said Raj.
Also, the Indian captain will be a given a brand new BMW. V Chamundeswaranath, businessman and former chairman of the Andhra Cricket Association announced that he will gift her a brand new BMW car once she returns to her hometown Hyderabad, Telangana.
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