Indian cricketers yet to get match fees for last six months of home season, claims report

The Indian cricket team’s members have not been paid their match fees or the promised Rs 1-crore incentive for their high-flying six-month home season due to the ongoing wrangling between the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the Board of Control for Cricket’s (BCCI) office-bearers, according to a report in The Indian Express. [caption id=“attachment_3336530” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Virat Kohli. AP[/caption] India played 13 Tests — which have yielded series wins over Australia, England, New Zealand and Bangladesh — in the 2016-17 season. According to the BCCI’s pay structure, every member in the playing XI of the Test squad is entitled to Rs 15 lakh while those on the bench are to be paid Rs 7 lakh each. In the past, players used to get their money inside two months of a Test match, the report added. “Usually, we get our dues within a month or 15 days of a Test but this time, the delay has been long. We don’t know what the reason is but such delays have never happened earlier,” a regular member of the Test side told Express. The report quoted a source who said that the delay had been due to the ongoing wrangling between the CoA and the BCCI, who are the cash-rich board’s signatories for cheque payments. The report quoted a top BCCI official as saying: “The payment is delayed because of various issues. The BCCI didn’t have the official signatory in February and later there was confusion over whether Amitabh Choudhary (acting secretary) can clear these payments because only the secretary can give all approvals. As for the women’s payments, their agreement with BCCI is yet to be signed and once it is officially done, their payment will be released.”