When there is a steep hike happening in the player salaries of the men's cricket team as well as the women's cricket team, how can the domestic players across India, playing day in and out at the state level and the Ranji Trophy, be left behind.
Good news is that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has actually indulged in a discussion process to have the salaries of the domestic players increased, CK Khanna, the acting president of the board mentioned on Thursday August 3.
The topic was first raised by Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly during a BCCI Technical Committee meeting earlier this week.
'Dada' debated that most of the domestic players had no other job to fall back upon and thus they deserved a hike in their salaries from the Indian cricket board.
The BCCI are now contemplating a hike of minimum 50% in the player salaries of the domestic cricket teams across all age groups -- senior level, U-19 and U-16. This is a major development!
"The domestic players' pay structure needs to be reviewed. In my opinion, a minimum 50 per cent increase is a must. I have had discussions with our treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary and he is working out the modalities," the Press Trust of India quoted Khanna as saying.
"I believe that our team can put up a nice proposal before the general body, which is the forum which can clear policy decisions."
Question now is where will the extra money come from.
Khanna had an interesting take to that. He mentioned that instead of burdening the state cricket associations to reserve amounts for the domestic cricketers from their annual grant given by the BCCI, the revenue generated from IPL broadcast rights could be utilised to give back to these players.
Current salary structure of domestic cricketers in India:
- Ranji Trophy players, U-23 players: Rs 10000 per match day
- U-19, U-16 players: Rs 3000 per match day
- Overall annual income: Rs 10 lakh
- Proposed hike: minimum 50%
