Ravi Shastri backs players' demand for greater pay hike

Tags: India, BCCI, Ravi Shastri

Published on: Apr 04, 2017

Former India captain Ravi Shastri is not happy with the hike the Indian cricketers got recently.

Former India captain Ravi Shastri is not happy with the hike the Indian cricketers got recently. He has backed the Indian players reported demand for a bigger hike, terming the recent increase by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as peanuts.
Not satisfied with these revised pay structure. "It's (what they are getting) nothing, (Rs) 2 crore is peanuts. How much is an Australian (cricketer) getting?" Shastri was quoted as saying​ in a report by NDTV.
Shastri​ went on to add how key Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara does not have a contract with any franchise team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and hence would be missing out on big payment.
"The grade contracts of a Test player should be the highest. (Cheteshwar) Pujara should be the highest, at par with top players. Your A grade contracts have to be massive," the former Indian team director went on to add.
"That is the best grade, where an A grade player like Pujara gets a massive amount and is not bothered whether he plays IPL or not. He will be happy and say 'I can play two months of country cricket' and go (to England)", Shastri further said.
The BCCI, last month, doubled the retainers for all contracted players to Rs. 2 crore, Rs. 1 crore and Rs. 50 lakh respectively for the three graded categories A, B and C. The board also increased the match fees to Rs. 15 lakh, Rs. 6 lakh and Rs. 3 lakh per Test match, One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International respectively.
However, according to some reports, Indian cricketers are of the view that players from England, Australia and South Africa were being paid much more by their respective cricket boards.
--By A Cricket Correspondent

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