Linking on-field availability of players to emoluments, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is mulling changes in the new players' contracts to include clearcut provisions on the amount payable to cricketers who have to sit out because of injuries.
The maiden edition of the contracts, that expired last month, had not been forthcoming on the issue, and the long injury-induced lay-offs of players including Sachin Tendulkar and Laxmipathy Balaji have prompted the BCCI to consider tightening loose ends.
However, the final decision on the provision would be taken after discussions with players' representatives during the October 19-21 camp for the Indian team in Bangalore in the lead-up to the one-day home series against Sri Lanka.
BCCI joint secretary Goutam Dasgupta and executive secretary-in-charge Ratnakar Shetty are likely to hold meetings with players' representatives on October 19 before submitting a report to the board on the contracts for the 2005-06 season.
Dasgupta and Shetty, along with BCCI treasurer Jyoti Bajpai, figure in the three-member review committee formed to go into the effectiveness of last season's contracts and suggest changes.
"Logically speaking, a contracted player, who has to stay away from the field due to injury for six months, should get 50 per cent of the contracted amount," a BCCI source said.
"However, we are not going to do anything unilaterally. The players's viewpoints will be given due weightage," the source said.
Apart from the injury clause, several other grey areas in the last contract would also be discussed thoroughly with players' representatives before the fresh contract takes shape.
The source said the new contract, likely to be finalised before the start of India's engagements with Sri Lanka from October 25, would be given retrospective effect from October 1.
However, the three-member panel does not have the jurisdiction to decide on the promotion or demotion of the player from one grade to the other.
This aspect would be dealt with by another committee comprising the BCCI chief, secretary (also its convener), team coach and selection committee chairman, before the contracts are finalised, the sources added. This new committee would come into the picture once the three-member panel gives its report.
Last season, 17 players were given contracts by the BCCI after dividing the lot into three groups, with their annual retainership pegged at Rs 50, Rs 35 and Rs 20 lakh per player respectively depending upon which grade they belonged to.
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