India stars get graded contracts back
Monday, 18 June 2007
NEW DELHI, Jun 17 (AFP): India's cricketers will head for a tour of England Wednesday with their annual graded contracts back in place following a flip-flop by the sport's administrators.
The Indian cricket board had cancelled the graded contracts--ranging from 49,000 US dollars to 122,000 US dollars -- after the team's humiliating first-round exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean in March.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instead suggested a flat annual retainer of 1.0 million rupees (about 24,400 US dollars) besides the usual match fees and hefty win bonuses.
But the graded contracts, already pending since last October, were re-instated following negotiations last week between the BCCI and players' representatives, led by captain Rahul Dravid.
The contracts for 17 players, announced on Sunday, will date back to October, 2006 and remain valid until September 30 this year, when they will again come up for renewal.
Opener Virender Sehwag, spinner Harbhajan Singh and seamer Irfan Pathan, who were all axed for the England tour due to poor form, were demoted from the elite Grade A to Grade B.
Senior batsman Venkatsai Laxman was also taken off Grade A, which now includes left-handed batsman Yuvraj Singh and wicket- keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Batsman Mohammad Kaif and spinner Murali Kartik were not given contracts, while injury-prone seamer Munaf Patel was handed a Grade C contract for the first time.
The Grade A players will get an annual retainer of five million rupees, followed by Grade B with 3.5 million rupees and Grade C with two million rupees.
The match fees range from 6,100 dollars for Tests and 4,000 dollars for one-day internationals.
Graded players:
Grade A: Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble.
Grade B: Venkatsai Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan.
Grade C: Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.
The Indian cricket board had cancelled the graded contracts--ranging from 49,000 US dollars to 122,000 US dollars -- after the team's humiliating first-round exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean in March.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instead suggested a flat annual retainer of 1.0 million rupees (about 24,400 US dollars) besides the usual match fees and hefty win bonuses.
But the graded contracts, already pending since last October, were re-instated following negotiations last week between the BCCI and players' representatives, led by captain Rahul Dravid.
The contracts for 17 players, announced on Sunday, will date back to October, 2006 and remain valid until September 30 this year, when they will again come up for renewal.
Opener Virender Sehwag, spinner Harbhajan Singh and seamer Irfan Pathan, who were all axed for the England tour due to poor form, were demoted from the elite Grade A to Grade B.
Senior batsman Venkatsai Laxman was also taken off Grade A, which now includes left-handed batsman Yuvraj Singh and wicket- keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Batsman Mohammad Kaif and spinner Murali Kartik were not given contracts, while injury-prone seamer Munaf Patel was handed a Grade C contract for the first time.
The Grade A players will get an annual retainer of five million rupees, followed by Grade B with 3.5 million rupees and Grade C with two million rupees.
The match fees range from 6,100 dollars for Tests and 4,000 dollars for one-day internationals.
Graded players:
Grade A: Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble.
Grade B: Venkatsai Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan.
Grade C: Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.