When skipper Harmanpreet Kaur lifted the maiden ICC World Cup trophy on Sunday night, the roar of joy and ecstasy was underlined by a spectacular windfall, led by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which awarded the winning team Rs 51 crore – the highest-ever cash award for women champions.
The BCCI award came with a silver lining, a magnanimous bounty of $4.48 million (approximately Rs 39.64 crore) by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
This too is the biggest-ever cash award offered by the ICC for the tournament. In the previous edition, which was won by Australia, the prize money was $1.32 million (approximately Rs 11.65 crore).
This year’s runners-up (South Africa) received $2.24 million (Rs 19.77 crore) in comparison to last year’s $600,000 (Rs 5.3 crore), while the two losing semifinalists got richer by $1.12 million (approximately Rs 9.89 crore each), up from $3,00,000 (approximately Rs 2.65 crore) in 2022.
Each group stage pocketed $34,314 (Rs 30.29 lakh). The teams finishing fifth and sixth took home $7,00,000 (approximately Rs 62 lakh each) and those in the seventh and eighth spot earned $2,80,000 (approximately Rs 24.72 lakh). Each participating team got $250,000 (approximately Rs 22 lakh).
The respective states, which the players represent, will now announce cash prizes for these players. Many cricketers are also expected to get government jobs in their states. The state cricket associations from where these players play are also likely to announce cash rewards for each player.
Besides the official offerings for these players, leading private companies are also planning to announce cash rewards or expensive gifts or vehicles to the cricketers on the lines of offerings made to Olympic medallists.
Meanwhile, Surat-based industrialist and Rajya Sabha member Govind Dholakia has announced a reward of diamond jewellery and solar panels for the women cricket team. He wrote a letter to the BCCI vice-president, Rajeev Shukla, expressing his desire to present each member of the team with “handcrafted natural diamond jewellery as a token of appreciation for their brilliance and resilience”. He also expressed his wish to give rooftop solar panels for their homes.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) announced a cash reward of Rs 11 lakh each for Harmanpreet Kaur and Amanjot Kaur, and Rs 5 lakh to Indian fielding coach Munish Bali for India’s historic win.
The PCA will soon organise a special felicitation ceremony to honour these three outstanding representatives from Punjab.
“The World Cup victory is a moment of immense pride for the entire nation, and we at the PCA are delighted that key members of this historic achievement hail from Punjab. Their dedication and performance have brought great glory to our state and to Indian cricket,” said Amarjit Singh Mehta, president of the PCA.
Punjab to give Rs 1.5 crore each to state players
The Punjab Government, which was the first to announce prize money for the state hockey players who were part of the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist team, is expected to make an announcement for awarding the state players in the Women’s World Cup winning squad on Tuesday. Sources said the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann would interact with them via video-conferencing on Tuesday and each of these players would get a prize money of Rs 1.50 crore.
The Haryana Government, which is famous for awarding winners with hefty prizes, has also called a meeting on Tuesday to decide on awarding a state player who was part of this historic feat, said sources.
Last year, after Rohit Sharma’s team clinched the T20 World Cup, the BCCI had announced a massive Rs 125 crore bonus for the entire squad. A similar announcement was expected for the women’s team, but the board announced Rs 51 crore.