CHENNAI: Economic ripples of the Covid-19 pandemic have hit the world of cricket. The boards of Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies have either announced salary cuts for players and staff or working on cutting cost. Compared to others, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) seems to be on a better wicket.
The BCCI has not announced any pay cut yet. Nor is it thinking on lines of laying off employees. Other than players and coaches, the board has around 100 persons on its payrolls at the headquarters in Mumbai and National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Unless things get worse, the BCCI doesn’t see major changes.
“The BCCI has done some cost control after the elected office-bearers took charge last October. The process started before the pandemic. But there has been no pay cut or lay-off as of now. We have cut cost on other fronts like travel, hospitality, etc,” said BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal.
However, the BCCI might be forced to think of something else if the IPL is not held this year, considering that losses will run up to nearly Rs 3,500cr. “IPL not happening will have a huge impact and we will assess the situation before taking a fresh call,” said Dhumal.