BCCI revises list of contracted players

[King]

NEW DELHI: More... BCCI revises list of contracted players Special Correspondent Sehwag, Harbhajan, Laxman demoted Promotion for Dhoni, Yuvraj NEW DELHI: Discarded by the National selectors, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh now stand downgraded in the Board of Control for Cricket in India's revised list of contracted players. In a press release on Saturday, Board secretary Niranjan Shah announced the gradation based on the performances of the players in the previous season. The one-year contract ends on September 30, 2007. The Board gives annual retainership of Rs. 50 lakh to those in Grade `A', Rs. 35 lakh to those in Grade `B' and Rs. 20 lakh for those in Grade `C'. This is in addition to the match-fee and a share of the Board's profit enjoyed by the players. Grade `A' list pruned Mahendra Singh Dhoni, named vice-captain of the one-day team for the tours of Ireland and England, has been promoted to Grade `A' along with Yuvraj Singh. They join Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble. The number of players in Grade `A' has been reduced to six from eight. Along with Sehwag and Harbhajan, those demoted to Grade `B' are V. V. S. Laxman and Irfan Pathan. Ajit Agarkar has been retained. Mohammad Kaif, earlier in Grade `B', has been ignored. Comeback man Zaheer Khan remains in Grade `C' along with Gautam Gambhir, S. Sreesanth and Suresh Raina. Wasim Jaffer and Munaf Patel have been included in this category while Murali Karthik finds himself dropped. The list: Grade `A' (Rs. 50 lakh each): Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Grade `B' (Rs. 35 lakh each): V.V.S. Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar. Grade `C' (Rs. 20 lakh each): Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer, S. Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina and Munaf Patel.

[King]

I can't quite see how Yuvraj Singh is in the top grade, he doesn't even play test matches :omg_smile:

[Cricketics]

why the hell would u demote laxman.. by default u have kept him the first person to be dropped incase we need to adjust a bowler..

[apocalypse]

and zaheer below pathan?

[beetle]

I have lost so much respect for these senior players for getting this grading system back...just encourages them to sit and be complacent.And so unfair to the youngsters.

[King Tendulkar]

I have lost so much respect for these senior players for getting this grading system back...just encourages them to sit and be complacent.And so unfair to the youngsters.

Totally agree. The BCCI decided quite rightly to scrap this after WC but some how months later after player pressure it has been reatined. Its horrid system which breeds complaceny, divisions and anger. Look at pathan who is in neither squad and still a grade B player. No real incentive to play well when you still getting paid for being cr#p. Then you have ZK who has come back, done really and is in both squads and is grade C. How do you think he feels seeing Pathan as Grade B and who is not even in the squad!

[Predator_05]

Why the hell was Laxman demoted ??

[Ram]

I guess one explanation of some of the anamolies COULD be , this is for the period btween october 2006 and september 2007. So the grading would be based on the year preceeding oct 2006, which might explain why zaheer is in C , Irfan is in B , Yuvi and Dhoni got up to A and Laxman got demoted to C.

[Predator_05]

If that is the case, why was Laxman dropped ? He was India's best batsman in Zimbabwe in the autumn of '05 (they all count, right ?), India's man of the series vs SL at home in the winter of '05, and although he didn't take Pakistan by storm, he scored a vital 90 in Faisalabad; hitting boundaries off Shoaib Akhtar. He was unfairly ditched for Yuvraj against England at home, but then proved his worth in WI when he saved India's skin in one of the tests vs WI. They had racked up 500+ and Lax's 100 took IND to 350 or thereabouts. So in 13 tests from the ZIM tour to the WI tour - his aggregate was 737 @ 40. If you count the value of some of his big innings - he did more than enough to retain his top tier contract. Match-saving hundreds vs SL (final test @ Ahmedabad), vs PAK (alright, it was a 90...but still), vs WI. Compare these figures to Tendulkar's, Sehwag's or Dhoni's.

[Ram]

Could be because Laxman plays only test cricket and the other play both tests and odi's..

[Gambit]

Laxy has been shortchanged again which is really pathetic to say the least. This guy has done so much but has been treated so shabbily! And why is Irfan grade B and Zaheer C?

[talksport]

Grading Nearly translates No of Marketing Contracts for the Year

[Cricketics]

btw did anyone notice, contracts are just for 3 monthz.. whatz the freaking use of revising contracts as it officially ends in 3 monthz time.. total crap

[Lurker]

What is the point of this anyway? I mean the players get paid for every Test match, LOI, 20/20 they play, is it not? So why this 50/35/30 lacks etc?? By the way does anyone know what is the income per test and LOI for an Indian player these days?

[Ram]

@ Cricketics The contracts were supposed to be announced 9 months ago. But remember how the BCCI suddenly came up with this whole new idea of limiting players' media contracts ? There was the problem. The media contracts were obviously the biggest source of player income . If that is limited , the players would obviously want to re-negotiate the pay they got from the grading system of BCCI to compensate for the losses. @ Lurker. I am not totally sure about this Lurks , but if my memory serves right , each player gets 2.5 lakhs for every test and 1.5 lakhs for every ODI he plays. This is apart from the tournament winning prize money that is shared among all players. And why have this central contract system ? simple , to decrease player insecurity. If a player were paid solely on the basis of the matches he played during the season , he would obviously think twice before missing a match. ie - There is chance that he might hide an injury to get into the eleven , thus comprimising team interests. So , when the player knows that he WILL get an assured income for the year , irrespective of form or fitness , the logic is that it will help clear his mind and hopefully allow him to play good cricket. Now , how effective this system actually turns out to be , is anybody's guess.

[Cricketics]

@ mm, can stand what u mean, but then only for 3 months?? is that any use, they will change it agian after 3 months may be they should have waited for september to come and then just made new contract list rather then this 3 month temporary one

[Ram]

Yes , expect the next set of contracts to be released by august or september. And in that one , expect these changes unless some drastic happens Irfan , Harbhajan and Sehwag - Downgraded to C Karthik - Given a grade C contract. Zaheer and Sreesanth - Promoted to B Agarkar and Raina - Mostly left out And they had to announce this one. Coz the players havent been paid for 8 months !

[Lurker]

@ Lurker. I am not totally sure about this Lurks , but if my memory serves right , each player gets 2.5 lakhs for every test and 1.5 lakhs for every ODI he plays. This is apart from the tournament winning prize money that is shared among all players. And why have this central contract system ? simple , to decrease player insecurity. If a player were paid solely on the basis of the matches he played during the season , he would obviously think twice before missing a match. ie - There is chance that he might hide an injury to get into the eleven , thus comprimising team interests. So , when the player knows that he WILL get an assured income for the year , irrespective of form or fitness , the logic is that it will help clear his mind and hopefully allow him to play good cricket. Now , how effective this system actually turns out to be , is anybody's guess.

You are right Sriram. The more I think the less this contract thingy makes sense. I mean if Munaf Patel keeps injured as he is and hardly gets to play he will still pocket 20 lakhs? What for? As it is the amount 2.5 lakhs per test and 1.5 lakhs per LOI seems pretty darn good to me. This of course does not include millions through endorsement. I wonder what is the logic of this contract service really. xxx

[Ram]

You are right Sriram. The more I think the less this contract thingy makes sense. I mean if Munaf Patel keeps injured as he is and hardly gets to play he will still pocket 20 lakhs? What for? As it is the amount 2.5 lakhs per test and 1.5 lakhs per LOI seems pretty darn good to me. This of course does not include millions through endorsement. I wonder what is the logic of this contract service really. xxx

Well Lurker , the example you quoted just now about Munaf is one of the reasons why the contract system came into effect in the first place. Imagine a promising player who gets drafted into the team and performs well in the first 7-8 matches. Now , If he suffers an injury that requires surgery meaning he would miss rest of the season , the old system would mean that he gets no further pay for the rest of the season , from anywhere ! And Radhika had earlier mentioned of how it was unfair for the seniors to have advocated this as it shortchanged young players. On the contrary , i think this system benefits new players the most since the 30-35-50 lakhs paid annually matters little to the senior guys anyway.It is the new players with little or no endorsements , who stand to benefit max from this. AND , this system doesnt mean BCCI is going to pay only the 17-18 players who have been contracted. If a youngster breaks into the team mid-season , performs well and keeps his place , he will get the match fee.

[Chandan]

Why the hell was Laxman demoted ??

The reason I see for this is following: This contract is from Sept 2006 to Sept 2007, based on the the performances of the players from Sept 2005 to Sept 2006. Now recall Yubraj's performance in the beginning of 2006? He was in supern form in Pakistan, hit centuries in tests as well as ODIs, was elevated to VC and even Laxman and Kaif were dropped from him in the series vs England in India! His elevation to grade A is justified. But how do you justify Ganguly remaining in topmost grade then? How many ODIs or tests did he play during this period? From the top of my head: 2 tests vs Zim, 2 tests vs Pak and no ODIs. Or perhaps a few ODIs in the triangular series in zim the result of which has escaped my mind. Why was Sachin retained in grade A? He played 7+5 odis at home in the later 2005 after coming back from tennis elbow, 9 tests home and away which has only one ton. He played well in the ODIs vs Pak in Pak and then had hit a ton in Malaysia after just coming back from another injury! What were Laxman's performance during this period? He had hit few gritty half tons vs SL at home when we had won on those underprepared tracks, didn't perform in Pak, can't recall his contribution vs England at home. Did he hit any tons in WI in those 4 tests? Must have hit! So the resoning as usual is muddled! Zaheer in grade C is justified because he didn't play during this period apart from few matches vs Pak in Pak in which he was very unimpressive!