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Asia Cup - 2004
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Asia Cup - 2004
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News
Indian cricketers set for
financial bonanza
NEW DELHI: India's top cricketers will be offered graded contracts
this month, officials said on Monday, correcting an anomaly that saw
untested rookies earning the same match fees as superstar Sachin
Tendulkar.
The players will be divided in three categories, with top rung
players like Tendulkar and captain Sourav Ganguly getting annual
salaries of $134,000 (approx), the second slab earning $67,000 and
the third $33,500.
Besides the retainers, the players will also get match fees of
around $4,500 for a Test and $3,500 for a One-Day International. The
reserves will, however, be given only 50 percent of the match fees.
The contracts, to be reviewed annually, will be formally announced
by Indian cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya after a meeting of the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in New Delhi on July 18
and 19.
BCCI secretary Karunakaran Nair said the graded system of payments,
which has been under consideration for the past two years, will be
valid from the Asia Cup limited-overs tournament to be played in Sri
Lanka from July 16 to August 1.
Indian cricketers, who till now were paid only match fees ranging
from 260,000 rupees for a Test and 225,000 rupees for a one-dayer,
will join their counterparts from other Test-playing nations like
Australia and South Africa who have similar contracts.
Who goes under which category - depending on their value to the
Indian team - will be decided by a committee comprising the BCCI
president, coach John Wright and chairman of selectors Syed Kirmani.
It is expected that senior players like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Rahul
Dravid, Anil Kumble, Venkatsai Laxman and Virender Sehwag will be
placed in category A.
The contracts will be offered only to those who have played a
minumum of three Tests or 10 one-day internationals. Those who do
not have contracts will also be eligible for International cricket
and will only be paid match fees.
"This is the best thing to happen to Indian cricket," said
leg-spinner Kumble, a veteran of 14 International seasons who helped
draft the contracts.
"The players will feel financially secure and not be worried where
their next rupee would come from in case they were injured.
"It also benefits the board because the players will now be under
the strict supervision of the BCCI even during the off-season.
"A player cannot offer to relax because one bad season may see him
not only being downgraded but pushed out of the contracts system
altogether," Kumble said.
Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev also welcomed the move.
"In our time, players who were injured were not paid and that hurt a
lot," he said. "Now players can relax and not be worried about their
future."
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