Pakistan, Sept. 26 -- The abolishing of departments from the domestic circuit, not to forget the Covid-19 pandemic, has hit women's cricketers harder than their male counterparts in Pakistan, leading to the number of active women cricketers coming down alarmingly in the past few months -- only 45 are left now. Until 2017, there were over 200 women cricketers playing in the domestic circuit for regional teams. They were signed up by departments, which allowed them to earn a livelihood from playing the game. Now, of the 45 remaining, nine are centrally contracted with the PCB, and another nine are in the emerging players' category, for which they receive a monthly retainer of PKR 50,000 ($300 approx.). Around 400 male cricketers lost their ...