New Delhi: Being a popular cricketing face amongst fans is no longer a criteria to remain on BCCI’s graded contract list for players. If the Board’s latest move is implemented, many stars will cease to receive their salaries very soon.
The world’s richest cricket body will sign only those players who contribute significantly towards the team’s fortunes. In other words, non-performing players are bound to be axed by the board.
Currently, Team India players are divided into three grades — A, B and C. Grade A includes players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan, and each of them are paid an annual amount of Rs 1 crore. The next grade consists of players like Harbhajan Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan, who bag Rs 50 lakhs a year. The third grade comprises another 20 cricketers who are paid Rs 25 lakhs per annum.
According to BCCI sources, the board is mulling to get rid of grade C and have only 20 cricketers in its contract (grade A & B) list. BCCI, which is the riches cricketing board in the world, has apparently stated that since most of the cricketers play for their respective IPL franchisee and take home a fat sum on money every year, they might as well be removed from the board’s contract list.
This decision is likely to make things difficult for discards like Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj, who are currently not in the national team. Sources said that the board is also planning to cite funds crunch as one of the reasons behind the move.
Whatever may be the case, the message for Indian cricketers appears to be loud and clear: perform or perish.
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