After a smashing victory over the United Arab Emirates, the Indian women’s cricket team led by Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana is gearing up for the rest of the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup T20. With this win, the scorecard places India at the top of Group A with four points, and one foot in the semifinal. For the other, they have to beat Nepal in the group final. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Team is dominating Group B stats, having won all matches so far.
While this tournament is limited to the countries falling within the Asian subcontinent, the ICC has just approved an expansion of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to 16 teams in 2030, keeping with its bid to promote equity between the men’s and women’s games. Women’s cricket doesn’t enjoy even a tenth of the worldwide support and admiration lavished upon the men’s game, but has witnessed a few breakthroughs in the past few years, which include the BCCI finally sanctioning equal match fees for centrally contracted men and women cricketers, and the launch of the Women’s Premier League.
In June, the Indian women’s cricket team scripted Test history by scoring the most runs made by any team (both men and women) in a day’s play. Smriti Mandhana (at 149 runs) and Shafali Verma (at 205 runs) set the ball rolling for a total of 525 runs, which declared their imminent win over South Africa.
At 28, Mandhana, who in an earlier interview with GQ had said “I feel proud to be a woman in sports; to grow and achieve so much so I can pave the way for the next generation of little girls who want to grow up to be athletes”, is one of the richest women cricketers in the world. So is former India captain Mithali Raj, who had a movie (Shabaash Mithu) based on her life with Taapsee Pannu in the lead, released in 2022. Former England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor and Australian batter Meg Lanning are also part of this list, both sporting impressive net worths. However, the top rank is occupied by someone else.
Not Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj or Meg Lanning, this is the richest woman cricketer in the world
The richest woman cricketer in the world is Ellyse Perry. The Australian all-rounder, who at 16 became the youngest player to ever represent Australia, and was the first to achieve 1000 runs and 100 wickets in T20 internationals, has a staggering net worth of $14 million (Rs 117 crore), according to Times of India and ZeeNews. Perry, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the maiden Women’s Premier League, also has a grand car collection, which includes a Lexus CT 200H that costs around Rs 24 lakh, a Toyota 86 worth Rs 31 lakh and a Toyota Corolla that’s valued at an approximate Rs 20 lakh, reports WomenCricket.com.
Meg Lanning, in turn, has a net worth of $9 million (Rs 75 crore), while Sarah Taylor’s assets are valued at $2 million (Rs 16 crore). Closer home, Smriti Mandhana’s net worth is estimated at $4 million (Rs 33 crore), Harmanpreet Kaur’s at $3 million (Rs 25 crore), and Mithali Raj’s at $5 million (Rs 41 crore), the Times of India report adds.
