BCCI Hikes Prize Money For World Cup Winning Players

Mumbai, Apr 27: Amid speculation that Indian cricketers are unhappy with the prize money announced for their World Cup triumph, the BCCI today increased it from Rs one crore to Rs two crore each.

The BCCI, in its working committee meeting here, decided to increase the incentive to Rs two crore per player, which is still less than the Rs 5 crore each that the players had reportedly demanded.

"The cash incentive to the members of the World Cup winning Indian team has been increased from Rs 1 crore per player to Rs 2 crore per player," BCCI secretary and president-elect N Srinivasan said in a media release.

The decision comes after speculation that several top Indian cricketers made an informal demand to the cricket board to increase the reward money to Rs 5 crore instead of just 1 crore for winning the biggest cricketing event after 28 years.

However, such reports were rejected by the BCCI with Srinivasan terming them as incorrect.

India won the ICC World Cup beating Sri Lanka in the final on April 2 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Immediately after the triumph, BCCI President Shashank Manohar had announced a reward of Rs one crore for each of the 15-member World Cup squad.

He also announced that the support staff would be awarded Rs 50 lakh each. PTI