Money Speaks: BCCI's Pay Structure (2020)

If you ask a fan of the cricket game in India; it is possible that he cannot explain how much emotions he has for the sport. The cricketers carry on their shoulders the expectations of millions of fans. However, they have their perks; they earn handsomely. The richness of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) knows no bound in the world; and that explains the high earnings of Indian international cricketers. However, all the players are not on an equal footing with each other. The BCCI separates the players into four categories - A+, A, B, AND C; depending upon the player's contribution and value to the team set-up.

The BCCI renews its contract every year; transferring the players from one category to another or persisting with the same list.  Let us look at the contracted players in every grade for the year 2020.

GRADE A+

The players in Grade A+ receive seven crores per annum. Players in this category include:

• the Indian captain, Virat Kohli
• the stylish opener, and India's mainstay at the top order, Rohit Sharma, and
• the bowler with an unorthodox action, gradually becoming the backbone of Indian bowling, Jasprit Bumrah.

GRADE A

Players in this list get Rupees five crores per year.  A notable exclusion from this list, particularly in this grade,  includes MS Dhoni. KL Rahul earned himself a promotion into Grade A. Other cricketers include:

•  Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav
•  Test mainstay, Cheteshwar Pujara
•  Mumbaikar Ajinkya Rahane
• All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja
• Medium-pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar
• Fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami
• Southpaw Shikhar Dhawan
• Off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin
• Explosive young wicketkeeper-batsman Risabh Pant

GRADE B

Grade B players get paid Rupees three crores per year. The                          players in this grade are-

• Fast bowler Umesh Yadav
• Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha
• Opener Mayank Agarwal
• All-rounder Hardik Pandya
• Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal

GRADE C

Grade C consists of 8 players, with five new entrants. The players receive Rupees one crore per year. Khalil Ahmed received the axe from this list. Players include-

• Kedar Jadhav
• Washington Sundar
• Hanuma Vihari
• Manish Pandey
• Shreyas Iyer
• Deepak Chahar
• Navdeep Saini
• Shardul Thakur.

Each player also receives a separate match-fee, whether they are part of the contract or not is not significant. Each Test match fetches Rs. 15 lakh, every ODI 6 lakh, and every T-20 3 lakhs. Stellar match performances have their rewards; a century gets rewarded by 5 lakh rupees, a double century by 7 lakh rupees.  A five-wicket haul gets rewarded with 5 lakh rupees.

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