Ranji Trophy: BCCI Mulls Compensation For Cricketers Who Lost Out Due To COVID-19 Last Season

The domestic cricketers, who lost out on Ranji Trophy cricket last season due to COVID-19, are likely to get minimum 50 per cent compensation of their total match fees if the BCCI Apex Council approves the working group recommendation. (More Cricket News)

The final decision however lies with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, who will discuss the topic with the Apex Council members on September 20.

It is learnt that a number of proposals were discussed by the committee comprising former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin, Yudhvir Singh, Santosh Menon, Jaydev Shah, Avishek Dalmiya, Rohan Jaitley and Devajit Saikia.

“The final decision lies with secretary Jay bhai but what most members agreed was a lumpsum compensation of 50 percent of what could have been the total match fees for playing all the league games in a Ranji season,” a BCCI source told this agency on conditions of anonymity.

“There was some debate whether only those who played at least one game in 2019-20 season will be considered or at least players from last two seasons.

“That decision would be taken by the office bearers as the quantum of expenditure is there domain. But as per as the math goes, the committee wants that player be paid a minimum of 50 per cent and it could go up to 70 percent," the source added.

Currently, a first XI player in a Ranji Trophy game gets Rs 35,000 per day and a match fee of Rs 1.4 lakh per game. That effectively means that minimum of Rs 70,000 per match could be the compensation amount.

It was also learnt that the domestic cricketers’ much-awaited match fee increase will be cleared by the president and secretary. As of now, the general expectation is that the new match fee will be anything between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh.