BCCI's initiative for former cricketers

If you consistently underperformed at any job, the chances are you would be fired. In the least, you would have to take a pay cut. However, rules that govern conventional commerce are by-passed when it comes to the Indian cricket team. Though the team has performed in a less than heartening manner over the last few months, this has had no significant impact on the pay cheques they receive. Apart from corporate sponsors keeping up the inflow of money into Indian cricket, we have the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has turned playing cricket into a lucrative occupation.

The most recent innovation on the part of the finance committee of the BCCI is an insurance scheme for former cricketers. While both the current senior and under-19 teams have insurance cover, none was being provided to former cricketers. Some of the doyens of Indian cricket like the great opener Mushtaq Ali played their cricket at a time when there was no money in the game. As a result, they now go through old age with hardly any money to fall back on in case of emergencies. To offset such a situation, the Finance Comittee of the BCCI has proposed a medical insurance scheme.

The chairman of the BCCI Finance Committee, SK Nair, speaking to CricInfo from Kochi on Friday said that "the scheme has not yet been finalised. It is still in the shaping stage and that the modalities of the scheme are yet to be decided on." When asked when the scheme would be in place, Nair assured that "it will be in place in the shortest possible time frame. The scheme has to be discussed in the appropriate forums, and could take about a year's time."

Nair sounded eager to get the scheme in place in the shortest possible time. He said that "the modalities of player eligibility were yet to be worked out." There were suggestions that a player who had participated in two Test matches, four limited over internationals or ten first class matches should be considered eligible. When asked about this Nair simply said "a final decision will be taken in the General Body Meeting after the Working Committee has considered the proposal."

While current cricketers are making large sums of money, it is heartwarming to see that the Finance Committee of the BCCI are trying to do something for former cricketers who gave so much to the game.