How women's cricket is changing the outlook of people in India

India made its Test debut in 1976, against the West Indies, and its One Day International (ODI) debut at the 1978 World Cup, which it hosted. The team has made the World Cup final on two occasions, losing to Australia by 98 runs in 2005, and losing to England by 9 runs in 2017. India has made the semi-finals on three other occasions, in 1997, 2000, and 2009. India has also made the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 on three occasions (2009, 2010, and 2018) but is yet to progress any further in the tournament.

The BCCI awarded contracts to women cricketers for the first time in the 2015-16 fiscal year. Contracts are pay graded according to the importance of the player. Players' salaries are as follows:

Grade A – ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) per annum

Grade B – ₹30 lakh (US$42,000) per annum

Grade C – ₹10 lakh (US$14,000) per annum