Legend’s “goosebumps” on record prize money for Women’s World Cup
Former India great Jhulan Goswami on the massive increase in prize money for the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
The International Cricket Council announced a massive increase in prize money for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, which is set to take place later this month in India and Sri Lanka.
The marquee event’s overall prize pool has risen to USD 13.88 million, marking a whopping 297 percent increase from the previous edition held in 2022 in New Zealand. This also sees the total prize pot eclipse the men’s event, which had a prize pool of USD 10 million in 2023.
Former India great Jhulan Goswami was elated about the announcement on The ICC Review during her first appearance on the ICC Hindi Instagram channel, where she will also be featuring regularly in the lead-up to the tournament.
"I am getting goosebumps. [The increased prize money] is a very good thing," Goswami said on the historic announcement.
"I would like to thank ICC from my side. The way they have thought of this, I think definitely women's cricket will get a lot of boost in this.
"And for [budding women’s cricketers’] parents, too. It is a reassurance that this sport can be played professionally and taken forward. So, I think this is great news for women’s cricket and I think this will definitely motivate all the players as well."
The winners of the tournament will take home USD 4.48 million, while the runners-up will receive USD 2.24 million, with both amounts reflecting an increase of more than 200 percent from the 2022 edition.
Both losing semifinalists will receive USD 1.12 million each, while every group-stage participant is guaranteed USD 250,000.
The fifth and sixth-placed teams will take home USD 700,000 each, and the seventh and eighth-placed sides will earn USD 280,000 each. In addition, every group-stage victory will fetch the winning team USD 34,414.
This marks another significant milestone in the ICC’s drive to amplify the growth of women's cricket and to establish pay parity with the men's game as announced ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The tournament is set to begin on 30 September with India taking on Sri Lanka in Guwahati. The two semifinals are scheduled for 29 and 30 October, with the showpiece final set to be played on 2 November.