BCCI announces new pay structure for players

Mumbai [India], March 7 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced a new contract system and compensation structure for the players.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA), appointed by the Supreme Court of India, announced BCCI Annual Player Contracts for the period from October 2017 to September 2018.

"The CoA was of the view that the performance and position of Indian Cricket need to be recognised with the fee structure comparable to the best in the world," the BCCI said in a statement.

The statement further read, "The CoA recognises that the actual income of the BCCI fluctuates on an annual basis depending on the number of home matches Team India (Senior Men) plays. Hence, to insulate the player compensation, the CoA has sanctioned the creation of a 'Players Revenue/Compensation Equalisation Fund' (PR/CEF) to which the BCCI will contribute approximately Rs 125 crore per annum from its surplus."

As per the new structure, there are four categories in Indian Men's team- Grade A+, Grade A, Grade B and Grade C.

The A+ category has been introduced for the first time by the board.

Players in the top bracket, which has only five players, including skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, will receive Rs 7 crore annually.

The players in A, B and C categories will receive Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore annually respectively.

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner R Ashwin have not been picked in the top-paid bracket.

The A category features MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Wridhhiman Saha.

The B category includes KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma and Dinesh Karthik

The players in the C Category are Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel and Jayant Yadav.

Notably, pacer Mohammed Shami's name has been withheld by the BCCI because of an FIR lodged against him in the alleged cheating affair exposed by his wife.

If Shami proves himself innocent in the case, he will get the money that he's entitled to.

Meanwhile, the Indian women's team has been divided in three Grades.

The players in category A will receive Rs 50 lakh, while category B and C will receive Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh annually respectively.

Skipper Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana have received Grade A contracts. (ANI)