Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) introduces a pension scheme for women cricketers in the state.
On the occasion of the 87th Annual General Meeting (AGM) the Gujarat Cricket Association assembled at the Narendra Modi stadium and the meeting was also attended by the BCCI secretary Jay Shah and the GCA president Dhanraj Nathwani which resulted in the introduction of a pension scheme for the women cricketers in the state.
The Gujarat Women led by skipper Hiralben Solanki finished fourth on the points table in group B in the Women’s Under-23 One Day Trophy with 16 points from seven games. However, they failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament. The GCA has 11 district cricket associations under it. The decision to include a pension scheme will help domestic players to continue pursuing the sport courtesy of financial support.
The other decisions taken by the association include the increase in ground maintenance, ground equipment, and infrastructure subsidy with an intent to ensure better and improved facilities for training for the domestic players in the state.
BCCI announced a hike for both men and women cricketers and former umpires in June 2022. The women cricketers received a hike of 22,500 Rs and will now receive 52,500 Rs for the first-class cricketers who retired from international cricket before 2003. The Indian Cricket Association (ICA) expressed immense gratitude for welcoming the pension hike. Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) in December 2022 also introduced a hike in pension for players who represented Vidharbha at the senior level before 2017. They were keen to introduce the Annual Cricket League for women in 2022.
The move to announce the pension hike will positively impact young and aspiring women cricketers to take up the spot full-time and go on to represent the country at the international level.