Reports: BCCI to announce massive pay hike for Indian domestic cricketers

With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deemed as the world’s richest cricket governing body, the players of the national team bag a hefty sum of money. Local players having contracts in the Indian Premier League (IPL) also have a healthy bank balance. However, the case wasn’t the same for the First-Class cricketers. Many players opened up about their financial issues after BCCI halted the domestic cricket competitions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, there’s a piece of great news for the First-Class cricketers in the country as they are expected to see a hike in match fees from the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. As per reports, top BCCI officials – President Sourav Ganguly, Secretary Jay Shah, Vice-President Rajiv Shukla, and Treasurer Arun Dhumal, recently decided to increase the match fees of all Indian domestic cricketers.

Massive hike for the First-Class cricketers

Dainik Jagran reported that cricketers who have played over 20 First-Class games are likely to get match fees of INR 60,000 per day. Players with lesser experience will receive INR 45,0000 per day. As per the current payment structure, athletes earn INR 35,000 per day per match, which adds up to INR 1.4 lakhs per game. The amount is halved for those warming the benches. The players also receive INR 1,000 as a daily allowance.

Notably, the First-Class cricketers in India haven’t been paid since the last season due to the global pandemic. Hence, this hike in the match fees will be a great relief for all of them. Speaking of the domestic players in white-ball games, the players are entitled to receive INR 35,000 and INR 17,500 for each Vijay Hazare and Mushtaq Ali matches respectively.

Meanwhile, the now-postponed Indian Premier League (IPL) was the last notable cricket tournament that took place on the Indian soil. The competition was suspended midway amid the Covid-19 crisis. The remaining tournament will now take place in the UAE in September. Notably, BCCI also had the hosting rights of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. However, the pandemic has even shifted that competition to the Arab nation. Hence, it remains to be seen when cricket will return to India.