BCCI must raise Ranji Trophy wages to match IPL, requests Sunil Gavaskar

Though a player these days gets approximately Rs 2.5 lakh per match in the Ranji Trophy, which is several times what the cricketers used to earn in yesteryears, the amount is no match to the millions the IPL stars earn.

"I am hoping new president Sourav Ganguly will look into this. The disparity that you see between IPL players, who don't always play first-class cricket, and those who play all the domestic games, about 80 days and somebody who plays 14 days of IPL. IPL dominates Ranji Trophy," Gavaskar told PTI.

“Unless their match fees are increased substantially, it will be considered an orphan and poor cousin of Indian cricket. I think 26 per cent of the BCCI revenue goes to the players, out of which 13 per cent goes to the international players, 10 per cent goes to domestic cricket, 1.5 to junior, 1.5 to women's cricket. That has not really been increased over the past few years barring the Test cricketers. There is a big disparity. I am talking about the uncapped players. Hopefully, that will be narrowed down as much as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile, the legendary batsman also touched on a much-speculated subject in Indian cricket since the World Cup semi-final exit - MS Dhoni’s future. The former Indian skipper hasn't played a game since the World Cup semi-final exit last year and the speculation around his future has reached a crescendo. 

"Fitness is something that I can't tell you anything at all. The question that needs to be asked is of MSD himself. He has not made himself available to play for India since 10th of July (9th actually). That is the important question. Does anybody keep himself away from playing for India for that long? That is the question and therein lies the answer," Gavaskar added.