CHENNAI: Even as hundreds of domestic cricketers, umpires, match officials, and scorers continue to await a compensation package for the curtailed 2020/21 season, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) continues to remain silent.
At the Apex Council meeting on June 20, following a long delay, the BCCI said it had decided to form a committee to look into the "issue of compensation for Indian domestic cricketers for domestic season 2020 and 2021." The statement released by the BCCI stated: "The Apex Council has mandated the Office Bearers of BCCI to form the committee and find a suitable compensatory mechanism for domestic cricketers, at the earliest possible."
And subsequently, on July 10, BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote to the state units revealing that a working group had been formed for domestic cricket in India.
It raised hopes that the compensation package would be rolled out in due course.
However, 47 days have gone by since the formation of the group and they are yet to meet even once. In fact, according to the members, the working group is not even aware of their roles and their mandate.
The working group comprises Rohan Jaitley (north zone), Yudhvir Singh (central), Jaydev Shah (west), Devajit Saikia (north-east), Avishek Dalmiya (east) and Santhosh Menon, and Mohammed Azharuddin (south).
"Since that mail, we have not received any communication from the BCCI. The message from the BCCI said the group has been formed for domestic cricket, but when the board revised the domestic calendar last week, we were not even aware. So we don't know what exactly our role is," an official who is part of the group told this daily on condition of anonymity.
More than the domestic calendar, the members are surprised that there hasn't been any progression with regards to the compensation package as many are affected by this. "As soon as the group was formed, many were hopeful that a package will be released because so many are suffering. But there hasn't been any discussion on this at all. The next season is less than a month away," an official said.
As previously reported by this newspaper, several players, umpires, and match officials have been left in the lurch by the BCCI with hundreds receiving absolutely no payments at all for the 2020/21 season.
There are indications in the BCCI corridors that the package will be announced only during the annual general meeting, scheduled to take place in September. While the Registrar had extended the deadline to host the AGM last year, there hasn't been any communication so far and the state units believe the BCCI will announce a date soon.
However, with the IPL scheduled to resume in the UAE on September 19, it remains to be seen when and where the BCCI would host the AGM.