Player contracts: No great financial boost for India's domestic cricketers

Mumbai skipper Aditya TareWhile the new central contracts have brought a windfall to the Indian international cricketers there is no major difference in domestic cricketers income despite the press release of the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI claiming a 200 per cent hike in match fees in each category In the upfront payment model for domestic cricketers the Committee of Administrators CoA have sanctioned Rs 35000 per day for a member in the playing XI and R17500 for a reserve player participating in senior domestic tournamentsIts a massive hike considering the Rs10000match fee a domestic cricketer draws per day currently However according to the new upfront payment model domestic cricketers will no more be entitled to the gross revenue share of 106 per cent from the BCCI This was confirmed by a source who was involved in the decisionmaking process The match fee will now include everything and there will be no waiting period for domestic players to get their share from the gross revenue the source told midday Number crunchingWhen one does the number crunching taking into account the average 20 matches across all formats a regular playing XI member plays in a year the domestic cricketer will realise that there isnt much of a difference in their income For example considering an average domestic cricketer plays six Ranji Trophy fourday league matches six onedayers and eight T20s in a year As per the prevalent structure of R10000 per day as match fee for days oneday games and Rs5000 for a T20 tie the average approximate income is R114 lakh which includes the gross revenue share from the BCCI As per Wednesdays proposed match fee structure a domestic cricketers approximate annual income would be R119 lakh On an average a domestic player earns R12 to 15 lakh in a year The gross revenue share varies depending upon the number of matches played and BCCIs annual incomeRich are getting richerMumbai skipper Aditya Tare expressed shock I was excited that we will now make at least R25 to R30 lakh in a year playing just domestic cricket considering the share from the gross revenue But if the gross revenue is now part of the match fee then it is very disappointing So the rich get richer but domestic cricketers still get treated in a thirdclass mannerIt is important for the CoA and the BCCI to know how much a domestic cricketer earns in the United Kingdom and Australia whose boards are as wealthy as the BCCI Cricketers from those countries can make a decent living from those kind of payments Tare saidRegarding the match fees and gross revenue share of majority of the players held back by the BCCI for the last two seasons the source said It has been held back because the BCCI has not conducted its Annual General Meeting for the last two years and without passing the annual accounts payments for players cannot be releasedNo breach of 26 ratio The source also confirmed that CoA and BCCI management have not breached the 26 per cent ratio in preparing the central contracts The R125crore fund which would be created will not eat into the IPL surplus the source saidCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go