"BCCI should force state associations to hand out contracts to their players" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra has said that the BCCI should force each of the state cricket associations to give annual contracts to their players, considering their current economic plight.
The Indian domestic cricketers have been hit hard due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. The BCCI could not organize the Ranji Trophy last season, with only Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophies being played.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra asked the BCCI to extend the contract system to domestic cricketers, so that their financial needs can be taken care of in uncertain times like these.
"BCCI should force state associations to hand out contracts to their players, around 20 first-class cricketers each who should have a contract amount, could be 5-10 lakh or whatever so that if cricket doesn't happen you are at least able to take care of them," said Chopra.
The cricketer-turned-commentator expressed full faith in BCCI president Sourav Ganguly that the former Indian skipper will surely have the interests of domestic cricketers in mind.
"Sourav has been a cricketer, the best captain that India has ever had, so I have full expectations from Dada. When the Indian team got contracts for the first time, Dada was at the forefront of it along with Anil bhai [Kumble]," added Aakash Chopra.
There is no clarity if the BCCI will be able to organize the Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments this season as well. Therefore, it becomes all the more important that the entire domestic ecosystem, not only the players, are compensated somehow.
"The time is here to understand the plight of our domestic cricketers" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra pointed out that the remuneration from playing domestic limited-overs tournaments is not enough.
"Since the time Covid has come, Ranji Trophy cricket has not been played. There have been a few matches played in the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophies but you cannot run your homes from that compensation. So, I think the time is here to understand the plight of our domestic cricketers," said Chopra.
The 43-year-old added that only a small percentage of domestic cricketers are fortunate enough to get IPL contracts, while a majority of them have taken huge financial hits.
"The Ranji Trophy cricketers and there are plenty of them with 8-9 new teams also added, so if you play with 37-38 teams and each of them having 20 players, it becomes around 700-800 players, have an issue as they have not earned. Only a few of them can play in the IPL," observed Aakash Chopra.
Aakash Chopra highlighted that the domestic cricketers are paid ₹35,000 for a Vijay Hazare encounter and ₹17,500 for a Syed Mushtaq Ali match. He pointed out that the total earnings would not be much even if a cricketer has played all the matches and his team has made it through to the latter stages of the tournaments.