Domestic cricketers to begin Ranji Trophy season without getting paid last year

The Ranji Trophy season is just about six weeks away but the players haven’t received any payments for their efforts in the last season which saw Gujarat lift the trophy for the first time in their history. The cause of the delay is the ongoing matter between the BCCI and the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

Because most state associations haven’t followed the Lodha panel reforms, the CoA has blocked the funds of each state association which they used to receive from the BCCI. With dry coffers, the associations are struggling to conduct day to day operations, let alone paying their cricketers for their efforts.

Cricketers working without pay

While a few cricketers have secured jobs with the government but a lot of them rely on their match fees to make ends meet. A lot of them are now approaching their state associations to take up the matter further with the BCCI and CoA. Recently, BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary had said that the players will receive their dues directly from the BCCI rather than their state associations but did not mention the timeframe for that to happen.

“This matter was taken up during our recent meetings and it was decided to bypass the states and make payment directly to players,” said Choudhary. When asked about the timeframe, Choudhary said that it will happen before the next season starts.

Usually, the players are paid a sum of Rs 10,000 on the morning of the game by the state associates. The rest of their salaries are paid in September after the Annual General Meeting. Due to the Apex court hearing, the elections are likely to be delayed this time which is a cause of concern for all the participating cricketers in domestic cricket.

According to the reports of DNA, associations like Tamil Nadu have managed to clear the dues of their cricketers through their own coffers but rest of the states do not have enough money hence their players are in desperate need of getting paid. The richest Board in the world must look up into this matter because monetary compensation is a key element in any cricketer’s journey.