Sourav Ganguly indicates at pay-cuts for players if IPL 2020 gets cancelled
The coronavirus pandemic has put a brake on cricket, which is impacting the governing boards from across the world in financial terms. Australian and England cricket boards have already bear big losses due to no cricket activities. Now with no certainty over IPL 2020's future, BCCI is staring at a massive loss of INR 4000 crore if the cash-rich league gets cancelled.
There are speculations that BCCI is trying hard to shift IPL to the October-November window if World T20 in Australia gets postponed. But there is still no official statement from BCCI on that matter. If the tournament gets cancelled this year, then Indian cricketers are expected to suffer pay-cuts.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly indicated on the pay-cuts scenario as he mentioned that BCCI is expected to bear INR 4000 crore loss if IPL gets cancelled.
"We will have to examine our financial situation, see how much money we have and take a call. Not hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL) will cause losses to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore which is huge. If the IPL takes place, we won't have to go in for pay cuts. We'll manage things," Ganguly told mid-day.
The Indian players are divided into four categories in the contracted list. The elite A plus Grade has only three players - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, who earn Rs 7 crore annually. While players in Grade A, B and C have an annual salary of Rs 5 crore, 3 crore and 1 crore, respectively.
However, women players are divided into three grades with Grade A players have annual earning of 50 lakh. While Grade B and C earn 30 lakh and 10 lakh respectively.
Ganguly also talk about the scenario of cricket behind closed doors, which is expected to take place when the game resumes to avoid large public gathering.
“Yes, the attraction will be less. I remember playing in such a scenario [when spectators were not allowed in for the final day after crowd disturbances at Eden Gardens] at the Asian Test Championship game against Pakistan in 1999 and there was a clear lack of excitement.
“If you have matches with restricted amount of crowds, not only would strict social distancing rules apply, the officials would also have to be very careful about how the spectators leave the galleries for home. The policing will have to be very strict. It’s a tough call and the situation we find ourselves in, is grave,” Ganguly added.
The country is going through the third phase of Lockdown with fourth expected to start from May 18. Coronavirus cases in India are nearing 82,000-mark as positive patients toll is now at 81,970 including 2,649 deaths while 27,920 have recovered, as per health ministry's data released on Friday.
