No funds or office space allotted yet, reveals ICA president Ashok Malhotra
The Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) president Ashok Malhotra has revealed that he is still waiting on the BCCI to allocate funds and an office space to kick-start its operations. The ICA is India's first ever players' association, formed as per recommendation of the RM Lodha panel in July 2019.
India’s first players’ association for cricketers, although differing from player associations in major countries in that it has no participation from current India cricketers, was launched as part of the Supreme Court-appointed panel’s reforms. In October last year, the ICA had prepared an annual budget of Rs 15-20 crore to run its affairs from a new office space in Mumbai. However, the members are still continuing to communicate from their respective locations via emails and phone calls.
“No, they haven’t given the funds yet. We are waiting for it. Once we get the funds, there will be an office space. We were expecting it to be cleared by January, now, hopefully by February first week. It will all fall in place,” Malhotra told Sportstar on Saturday.
Increased salaries for first-class cricketers is at the top of the agenda for association. However, Malhotra has said that the ICA also wants to recommend pensions for the wives of the deceased Ranji Trophy players and given its 2000-member strength offer coaches and trainers.
“It is the first agenda. First, we have to be acceptable by all state units. A lot of state units, like Bihar, has still not allowed Apex Council members to attend meetings. If they don’t allow them, it becomes null and void,” he said.
“We can give coaches from our association. All our members are former players, so it is a big platform, and the age-group is between 35 to 70. So you can take your pick,” Malhotra added.