CHENNAI:The BCCI has put on hold plans of introducing performance-based incentives for India players. This was discussed at the board’s finance committee meeting on July 1 and came up for further discussion when the committee met in New Delhi on Wednesday.
While details of the meeting are not available, it has been reliably learnt that incentives are not working out now. If it deems fit, the committee will take up the matter in future. It’s believed that fall in revenue due to few bilateral international matches at home in the last two seasons is a reason.
Confirming that the win-and-gain system — proposed by IPL COO Sunder Raman, which was supposed to offer more for wins abroad/against stronger teams — will not see the light of day, BCCI sources told Express, “Members felt this isn’t the best time. And it was just a proposal. If situation permits, this can come up for consideration in future.”
Right now, India cricketers are paid Rs 7 lakh, Rs 4 lakh and Rs 2 lakh per Test, ODI and T20I, respectively. This is apart from annual contracts offering Rs 1 crore, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh in categories A, B and C. There are no extras for wins, although big titles like World Cup usually ensure handsome bonuses.
As reported by this newspaper on July 2, the extra expenditure on incentives would have come at a time when the board is experiencing a dip in annual revenue from TV rights for matches in India. Due to little international cricket in 2013-14, the amount received as gross media rights was Rs 419. It was Rs 774 crore the previous season. Consequently, the annual grant for affiliated units came down to Rs 18 crore from 30 crore.
Although the board has seen profits from IPL increase in the same period, 2014-15 was an even leaner season in terms of international matches on Indian soil. So gross media rights for this period are unlikely to increase dramatically.