BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla Confident India Will Clinch Women’s World Cup, Hails Growth of Women’s Cricket

By A Staff Reporter

Mumbai: On the eve of the Women’s World Cup final between India and South Africa, BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla lauded the Indian women’s cricket team for its stellar performance and expressed confidence that India would emerge as World Cup champions.

“We have several achievements in this Women’s World Cup. We beat Australia in the semi-final by chasing such a high score. This has brought laurels to the Women’s Team. India’s Women’s Cricket is also progressing due to this,” Shukla said. “I am confident that we will be the World Cup Champions, and Women’s Cricket in India will earn global laurels,” he added.

Reflecting on the journey of women’s cricket in India, Shukla noted the transformative initiatives undertaken by the BCCI under Secretary Jay Shah’s leadership. “He brought their pay grade at par with men players. He initiated the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which generated ₹4,669 crore in revenue. Its media rights were valued at ₹851 crore, and we secured strong sponsors,” he said.

Highlighting the push for grassroots development, Shukla mentioned the launch of the Under-15 tournament and the prize incentives of ₹5 crore and ₹2 crore for the U-19 and other categories, which have encouraged young talent nationwide.

“As a result of the encouragement, women players started coming up in large numbers to play cricket. We gave them the best coaches, team management, and facilities. Today, we are in the World Cup finals after defeating Australia and New Zealand,” he said, extending his best wishes to Team India ahead of the final.