New Delhi: Following Team India’s triumph of 2025 Women’s CWC, nation celebrates the rise of Indian women’s justice to gradational level, one must not forget to credit former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary and ICC president Jay Shah for truly backing a truly inclusive vision of women in sport.
While Jay is currently serving as ICC president, it was under his guidance as secretary of BCCI from 2019 to 2024 that the board embraced the idea of pay equality and enhanced professional leagues for women cricketers and grassroots investment and civil visibility, which has now empowered Indian women cricketers who now inspire millions of girls across planet to take up Cricket.
Further, the results speak for themselves — especially looking at Indian women’s team performance which is low leading with purpose and pride.
It was under Jay Shah’s leadership as BCCI Secretary, that the Indian women’s cricket experienced a major metamorphosis, evolving from a promising pursuit to a world- class sporting enterprise, with his term at BCCI being marked by bold reforms that have elevated the game both on and off the field for women in sports.
One of the most groundbreaking moves during his tenure was pay equality between male and female cricketers, a decision which in the long run communicated an important point about equivalency and respect for both the genders. This was followed by the launch of professional women’s cricket league WPL, something which not just Indian cricketers, but women cricketers from across the world had long been requesting. WPL’s international exposure and reach is now providing women cricketers a platform which is not only giving them wider audience but also a financial stability and a competitive platform where they can hone their skills with players from across the planet.
Further, BCCI’s Grassroots investment has surged, with even grassroot players now getting increased backing that help in identification and building of women cricketers from across the country. These sweats have not only expanded the gift pool but also inspired youthful girls to dream big in justice.
Impact of WPL - A Game Changer for Women’s Cricket in India
The launch of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023 marked a seismic shift in the geography of Indian women’s cricket. Inspired by the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the WPL sculpted out its own dynamic marketable ecosystem, developed to elevate women cricketers and provide them professional openings. Like in men’s cricket, WPL provides a platform where female cricketers from even countries which hardly get any international matches get a platform to play players from another country, further, even our domestic players who might not have gotten opportunity to represent India now get the exposure of high- stakes competition and international level matches, while getting an opportunity to learn from best in the industry. WPL is now slowly bridging a long- standing gap, offering platform that had preliminarily been out of reach for generations of women players.
While more can be written on the impact of WPL, one must not forget the man behind it who made it happen - Jay Shah. It was his strategic vision and unwavering support to women cricketers that Indian women’s cricket team has finally got their hands on their 1st ICC Trophy, an achievement that will create waves and help build a solid base for growth of women’s cricket.
