Indian first class players awaiting their salaries of last season

BCCI has become a powerhouse in world cricket. What helps BCCI to flex their muscles in world cricket is the massive money they make throughout the year with a lot of cricket being played. Recently Indian skipper Virat Kohli spoke about the massive work-load they’ve had because of a number of matches they play throughout the year across all the formats.

Virat Kohli along with Dhoni and Ravi Shastri yesterday met the CoA chief Vinod Rai regarding the pay hike for the players along with the support staff. After the meeting, they have come to a mutual agreement.

Well, that’s done and dusted for the national side. But Indian first-class cricketers are still waiting for their salaries for the matches played in the last season of 2016-17 which ended in the month of March.

Four teams players’ awaiting their dues

As per a report on Times of India, players for Odisha, Hyderabad, Assam, and Tripura are still awaiting their dues from the BCCI. There are few who have received half of their salary while others have got nothing. Players from Assam have got nothing from the BCCI as per the team source while the Odisha players recently got their dues but only for the matches played in the Ranji games.

The players get INR 40,000 per Ranji game which excludes the daily allowances which are paid by the respective associations to the players. For 50-over games during Vijay Hazare Trophy, they get INR 10,000 per match. For a T20 competition like Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, they get INR 5000 per game.

An Odisha team source while speaking to TOI said, “It’s been quite difficult for players. Many have got their Ranji Trophy dues only a week back. There are a lot of them who rely heavily on this income. We don’t know why there is a delay in payments. We haven’t yet got our Vijay Hazare and T20 tournament salaries.”

The players who haven’t received their pay are now worried and are clueless as they fail to understand the reason for the delay. Earlier, some of the associations used to pay the players right after the games, some used to give pay-cheques after the season end. The associations have kept mum and there’s no message conveyed to the players from their end.

Players from Assam and Tripura say that “Last year, the players had to be on the road for a long time. It’s been very difficult. There are differences in the daily allowance that’s been paid by various associations too. There is no uniformity.”

A Few of the board associations has conveyed to the players that they will get their pay directly from the BCCI while the daily-allowances will be paid by them. According to a state association member after the BCCI-Lodha Panel tussle, a lot of board associations have shared the bank details of their players with the BCCI and they are receiving the salaries directly from the BCCI.

The reason behind the delay?

As per a top BCCI official, they are trying to make sure that the players receive everything directly from the BCCI. The reason for the delay as per this official is “certain issues with reimbursement and voucher procedures” involving few of the state associations. Few of the association players have received full payment, some have received a certain part while a few of them ate yet to receive the pay.

“There are some issues with regards to reimbursement procedures and voucher claims on various fronts. It’s been addressed to and the players will get their dues soon,” said the BCCI official.

It will be better If the domestic players get the dues on-time as they can then express themselves freely on the ground.