Players' contracts to be delayed

The renewal of contracts for Indian cricketers will be delayed till at least early next month, a top source in the Indian board said on Tuesday.

With many of the top players unavailable for the October 19-21 preparatory camp ahead of the one-day home series against Sri Lanka, the committee formed by the Board of Control for Cricket in india (BCCI) to review last year's contracts finds itself in a dilemma. According to earlier plans, Goutam Dasgupta, the BCCI joint secretary, and Ratnakar Shetty, the executive secretary-in-charge, were scheduled to submit a report to the board on the contracts for the 2005-06 season after holding meetings with players' representatives on October 19.

Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, who is yet to return from Australia, the injured Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and V V S Laxman -- who has been dropped -- would not be in the camp.

"So, we have decided not to rush things. We will hold discussions with the cricketers midway into the series, that is early next month," the source revealed to PTI. Last season, 17 players were given contracts by the board after dividing the lot into three groups, with their annual retainership pegged at Rs. 50 lakh, Rs. 35 lakh and Rs. 20 lakh per player respectively depending upon which grade they belonged to.

But with the review panel not having the jurisdiction to decide on the promotion or demotion of a player from one grade to the other, the BCCI would have to form another committee to finalise the individual contracts after the three-member panel places its report. The new committee would comprise the board president, secretary (also its convener), team coach and selection committee chairman.

"But the players have nothing to worry. Irrespective of when the new contracts are signed, they will be given retrospective effect from October 1," the source addded.

The BCCI is mulling over changes in the new players' contracts to include clear-cut provisions on the amount payable to cricketers who sit out with injuries. Several other grey areas in the previous contract would also be discussed thoroughly with players' representatives before the fresh contract takes shape.

Group A:
Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh.
Group B:
Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Lakshmipathy Balaji.
Group C:
Parthiv Patel, Aakash Chopra, Murali Kartik.