BCCI doubles player salaries

BENGALURU: India’s cricket team have been given a significant pay rise, with the world’s richest cricket board (BCCI) announcing yesterday that it had doubled salaries for the 2016-17 season and hiked match fees across all three of the game’s formats.

Players in the uppermost “A” category have been put on a retainer of 20 million Indian rupees ($305 000), up from 10 million rupees last season.

That is still well short of the $870 800 retainers that England’s top cricketers, such as Alastair Cook or Joe Root are on, according to media reports, or the $858 816 for Australia captain Steve Smith.

Top Indian cricketers also receive a match fee for each international appearance, and many benefit from playing in the lucrative IPL.

The BCCI said it had seven players on Grade A contracts, up from four last season, with Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Murali Vijay joining captain Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, among others. – Reuters