Who are behind Indian cricketers' pay hike?
Under the BCCI's latest contracts, the salaries of some of the players of the Indian cricket team have increased more than two-fold. The BCCI added a new contract category A+ which has five cricketers, who are indispensable to the team across all formats of the game. But who were behind this idea of this new category?
Dhoni and Kohli suggested Grade A+ contract
"This suggestion originated from Virat and MS in the discussions," CoA chief Vinod Rai told ESPN. Both Dhoni and Virat wanted a special category which rewards the best performers.
Five players have been awarded Grade A+ contracts
As per the BCCI's official announcement, Grade A+ category includes Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They will be paid Rs. 7 crore per year. However, neither the BCCI nor the CoA was involved in selecting players. The national selection committee, led by MSK Prasad, finalized the criteria which also factored in the rankings of these players.
Former coach Anil Kumble had initiated the process
Former Team India's coach Anil Kumble had started the discussions about the pay structure with the CoA and the senior players. He had even made a presentation, in May 2017, to the BCCI and the CoA highlighting the need to increase the salaries. As per his proposal, the top contract would have been worth Rs. 5 crore.
BCCI had several discussions with Kohli, Dhoni & Rohit
The BCCI and the CoA held several discussions with head coach Ravi Shastri, Indian skipper Virat Kohli, vice-captain Rohit Sharma and former India captain MS Dhoni. It was during this session in December 2017 that Kohli and Dhoni recommended the idea of Grade A+ contract for the players. Players who played more deserved to be paid more, that was the logic behind it.
Logic behind the A+ contract
"They wanted a category of pure excellence where you perform and you are rewarded. And hence the players would not occupy a permanent slot in this category because if you don't perform then you slip down the order" said Vinod Rai.
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