CoA agrees on compensation and demands for rest after Kohli-Dhoni meet

After the home series against Sri Lanka, which ends a tiring home season for India, the team will leave for South Africa two days later. They will then start their South African tour with a warm-up game on December 30 before playing the first Test from January 5, 2018, in Cape Town. 

The stressful year has forced the Indian skipper to raise question over BCCI’s scheduling criteria. The CoA appears be taking the issue seriously and scheduled a meeting with players. Kohli and Dhoni, along with national coach Ravi Shastri, met CoA chief Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji, and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri today to discuss their concerns.

“On Future Tour Programme (FTP), we agree with them and will look into it so that they get enough rest. The principles of the compensation package will also be structured. We will now match the revenue with compensation that each player will receive,” Rai told ANI after the meeting.

Another major issue that has been discussed in recent months has been the salaries, which are quite low when compared to their foreign counterparts, that the Indian players receive. As per the current pay structure, contracted Grade A players are paid Rs two crore annually, Grade B players are in the Rs one crore bracket, followed by Grade C at Rs 50 lakh per year. Rai also asserted that the CoA would look into player’s salary and a raise could be coming their way soon. 

“We had an extensive discussion with the players and spoke to them on the number of matches they play, the Future Tour Programme (FTP) and compensation package etc. The discussions were fruitful.

“It was a productive meeting. The team management was very forthcoming with their recommendations and their thoughts on various issues. This was a path-breaking initiative, we feel we’ve found a common ground and aligned our thoughts for the betterment of the game – be it the policies under which the player remuneration and FTP will be worked upon,” he said.