Final draft of players' contracts to be ready soon

The final draft of the BCCI players' contracts is likely to be ready as soon as January 13. After it is decided which player is to receive what contract, the board will pass on the draft to the individual players. According to Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, the board has decided to go in for a performance-linked structure.

This comes after a couple of rounds of discussions between senior players and board officials. The BCCI had earlier formed a committee comprising Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, N Srinivasan, the treasurer, Shashank Manohar, a vice-president and Shah, among others, to look into the matter of the players' contracts.

There has been some apprehension that handing out contracts directly linked to individual performance will cause players to worry more about their personal results than that of the team, but the board's intentions are different. Players are likely to receive a flat fee for each Test and one-day international, and a bonus if the team wins. There will not be rewards for individual performances - runs scored or wickets taken.

The amounts will differ for Tests and ODIs and will increase in the case of a series win. The board also proposes to reward away wins more than it does home wins. To show that they are serious the board is willing to fork out cash over and above the allocated 13% of the gross revenue of the board that goes towards payment of the national team's wages, should India embark on a winning streak.

One thing that will remain the same, however, is the gradation for players. An A-grade contract will come with an annual retainer fee of Rs 50 lakh ($100,000 approx), B with 35 lakh ($75,000 approx) and C with 15 lakh ($30,000). The criterion for a C contract is five Tests or fifteen ODIs.