India continue with old contract system

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that it would not be entering into performance-based contracts with India's cricketers for the time being. After a meeting with senior players in Delhi it was decided that the existing contract system would continue for another year.

At the moment players receive a retainer and a flat fee per Test and ODI. The BCCI had earlier proposed a system in which players received smaller retainers but were rewarded heavily for winning matches and series. The players were not in favour of this system, and the BCCI, for the moment, has decided to stick with the old contracts system.

This means that players can receive contracts in either A, B or C category. The A-category contract comes with an annual retainer of Rs 50 lakh (US$124,000), the B-category contract is worth Rs 35 lakh (US$87,000) and the C-grade works out to Rs 20 lakh (US$50,000).

"Existing player contract system will continue. Four senior players met the Contract Committee today and they have agreed to continue with the prevailing system," Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI said. The contracts committee, comprising Shah, N Srinivasan, the treasurer, Shashank Manohar, a vice-president of the board, and Inderjit Singh Bindra, the president of the Punjab Cricket Association, met Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble in Delhi.

"The gradation committee will sit towards the end of this month or by October first week to finalise things," said Shah. "It will also decide how many players will come under its purview but the players are happy with the existing system." In the past the gradation committee has included the coach, the chairman of selectors and senior board officials. Given that India do not have one overall coach at the moment, it's unclear who all will be on this committee.