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Nagpur: Good news for former Vidarbha players, men and women both, Vidarbha Cricket Association has announced starting of pension for women while doubling the amount of pension for men, according to a report in a local English newspaper.
According to the report, any retired woman player who represented Vidarbha at senior level before 2017 will get a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 from December 1, 2022. Likewise, men’s pension has also been hiked from Rs 5,000 (presently) to 10,000 per month. It will also come into effect from December 1. VCA will also hold the Annual Cricket League for women on the lines of Guzder League from this season (2022- 23), the report said quoting VCA President Adv Adwait Manohar.
The report further said that the male cricketers, who have played more than 25 games for their associations, are eligible for BCCI pension. VCA is giving pension to those players who are not getting anything from the BCCI.VCA is giving pension to senior men who have played from 1-24 matches. It may be mentioned that the President himself was also eligible for the same pension as he had represent Vidarbha at senior level (in 13 games — six FC and seven List A matches) but he had politely refused to accept it.
In women’s case, even the BCCI is offering nothing to domestic players. The pension scheme is in place for women who have played international cricket and that too is loaded with ambiguity. Women players in the region don’t have any regular tournament and the exposure is limited to only players who get selected for camps. VCA also finalised in the EC meeting to introduce an annual cricket tourney for women.
“There are no matches or tournaments for women in the region and we have decided to conduct an Annual Cricket League for women on the lines of Guzder League from this season (2022-23) to encourage players. It will be an interclub invitational tournament. All clubs will be invited and all those clubs who can form (women) teams will play. It will be exactly like the Guzder League but only white ball as women cricket is limited to 50 and 20-over formats. It will be an open tournament … to start with. U19 girls can play in this and for Under-15 girls, we will see in future what can be done,” Adv Manohar was quoted as saying.
