Sarfaraz and Suryakumar's withheld Ranji fees

Suryakumar Yadav and Sarfaraz Khan have made the headlines in the past few weeks with a couple of valuable knocks, laced with aggressive and unorthodox strokeplay during the Indian Premier League. If you believe the administration of their Ranji team, Mumbai, they show as little deference to authority as they do to conventional batsmanship.

So both men's match fees have been held as insurance. "The MCA managing committee has decided to withhold Sarfaraz and Surya's match fees for the next two years as an assurance for their good behaviour," Ravi Sawant, MCA vice-president, said.

Technically, an association can only block a part of a cricketer's match fees. Domestic players are paid Rs 10000 per match day by their respective states at the end of the season and the remaining dues are settled by the BCCI based on profits gained. The amount paid by the host association is then reimbursed by the BCCI, so with the MCA withholding players' dues, it cannot seek the money from the Board till the players are paid.

But MCA officials said they were compelled to take the decision to stress the importance of discipline among the younger generation.

Suryakumar has been appointed vice-captain of defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, while Sarfaraz nearly became the youngest player to score a fifty in IPL history last night against Rajasthan Royals. However, multiple indiscretions - on and off the field - had initially left Sarfaraz and Suryakumar out of Mumbai's list of probables for the domestic Twenty20 tournament. The duo were considered for selection only after they tendered an unconditional apology to the MCA disciplinary committee.

Suryakumar, who led Mumbai for the first six Ranji Trophy matches, used abusive language towards MCA office bearers in a taped telephonic conversation with a team-mate. He had also complained against his team-mates to the match referee, and had in turn had been the subject of one from his team-mates for using abusive language in the dressing room and on the field.

Sarfaraz was dropped from the Ranji squad and later found himself in controversy when he made offensive gestures at the selectors after after leading Mumbai to a victory in the Under-19 championship semi-final.