New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has paid Rs 1,159 crore income tax in the 2021-22 fiscal. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary gave details of the income tax paid by the BCCI and its income and expenditures in the last five years based on the returns filed.
In the financial year 2020-21, BCCI paid Rs 844.92 crore in income tax, slightly lower than Rs 882.29 crore paid in 2019-20. In FY 2019, the board paid Rs 815.08 crore as taxes, higher than Rs 596.63 crore paid in 2017-18.
In the 2021-22 fiscal, BCCI had earned a revenue of Rs 7,606 crore, while its expenditure stood at close to Rs 3,064 crore. In 2020-21, its income stood at Rs 4,735 crore and expenditure at Rs 3,080 crore. (ANI)
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur calls for more Tests
India women cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur has called for more women’s Tests as well as the revival of long-duration domestic cricket in India. The 34-year-old captain in terms of how many games she’s played in each of the three formats, she’s roughly reflective of the top-level women's cricketer of her era: only three Test matches, 127 ODIs, and 154 T20Is.
India captain also wants red-ball matches to return to domestic cricket. In the 2022-25 women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) cycle, India is slated to play only two Test matches, both at home in the 2023-24 season, against England and Australia. During this cycle, only four sides will play Test cricket, with India playing the fewest, trailing England (five), Australia (four), and South Africa (three).
“As a player, I definitely want more Tests because as a growing kid, we saw more Tests on TV than T20s. Nowadays it's a lot of fun playing T20s but Test cricket is something every cricketer wants to play,” Harmanpreet said while interviewed on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
The first ever #WBBLDraft nominations are IN ___
__ Sophie Devine _
__ Harmanpreet Kaur _
__ Hayley Matthews _
__ Sune Luus _
__ Chamari Athapaththu _Who will end up where in #WBBL09? Find out when the Draft gets underway on September 3 _ pic.twitter.com/KvGCWcon1w
— Weber Women's Big Bash League (@WBBL) August 1, 2023
“This year we have two Tests - one against England and one against Australia – and I hope those games can make a huge impact on women’s cricket and hopefully in the future, we will keep getting more Test matches. We have to bring back Test matches in women's cricket because it's very important for women’s cricket,” she added.
The last multi-day domestic women’s cricket competition in India was in 2017-18, when the BCCI held an inter-zonal three-day tournament as well as an inter-zonal Under-19 two-day event. While Harmanpreet is pleased with how far domestic women's cricket has progressed since her childhood, notably with the introduction of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), she hopes long-duration games will resume soon.
