“Shut the Noise! We are INDIA” - BCCI shares strong message, tweets video of women’s team gearing up for England challenge
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has shared a video of the Indian women’s team going through the paces ahead of their challenging upcoming tour of England. Along with the video, the BCCI shared a message that the team is united in their vision and is focused on the task at hand.
The Indian women’s team will feature in one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is in England between June 16 and July 15. Over the past few days, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the BCCI, with reports emerging that they haven’t paid the women players their dues.
In an apparent attempt to prove that all is well between the BCCI and the Indian women’s team, the cricket board on Thursday took to Twitter to post a video of the women’s team gearing up for the England tour. The clip was shared with the self-explanatory caption:
“Shut the Noise! We are INDIA #TogetherWeWin.”
A huge controversy broke out a few days ago after a report in UK’s ‘Telegraph' newspaper revealed that the BCCI is yet to hand over the prize money of the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup to the Indian team. India, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, finished runner-up in the event held in Australia in February-March last year.
The BCCI soon clarified that the payments would be made soon and asked the players to send in their invoices. A BCCI official told PTI in this regard:
"The members of the Indian women's cricket team will be getting the share of their prize money by the end of this week. The transactions have been processed, and I am expecting that they will receive their share very soon."
As per some reports, BCCI members claimed that the delay was due to COVID-related issues, as the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai was shut.
BCCI rubbishes claims of women players not being paid for eight months
In a follow-up report on the matter, ‘Telegraph’ alleged that the four women cricketers, who do not find their names in the latest contracts, will not be paid for almost eight months of employment. Veda Krishnamurthy, Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil and D. Hemlatha are the four who missed out on contracts.
The BCCI, though, rubbished such claims. Speaking to ANI, a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying in this regard:
"This is absolutely false. Every player is paid in accordance with the terms of the contract with the BCCI. The payments have been made for the contracted period. The claim made in the story essentially assumes that a contract existed for almost eight months, for which they would not be paid. This is incorrect, and I can only conclude that this is on the back of incorrect advice.”
The Indian men’s and women’s teams, currently in quarantine in Mumbai, are preparing for their respective England tours. Both teams are likely to fly off to the UK together early next month.