Indian cricketers' salary safe, no pay cut yet

The coronavirus outbreak has hit the world hard, and the global economy is in a tailspin. The most natural fallout of the pandemic is that there have been severe pay cuts everywhere, and millions of people have been rendered jobless too.

However, our sources have told us that Indian coach Ravi Shastri and the support staff will not suffer any pay cuts. Shastri, who is paid nearly Rs. 9 crore a year by the BCCI, has no clause in the contract which defines a pay cut in a pandemic situation.

Sportskeeda has learnt that the BCCI doesn't want to implement a salary cut for anyone right now. Even Rahul Dravid, chairman of the National Cricket Academy who is earning over Rs. 6 crore a year, won't suffer any financial cut-back.

At the same time, the officials don't want to make any high-paying appointments right now. Moreover, none of the existing professionals will be entitled to a pay hike next year. That might be bad news for Shastri in particular, since his contract with BCCI lasts till 2021.

Sources have also said that the BCCI officials, including the outgoing CEO who is earning over Rs. 5 crore annually, won’t be eligible for a hike. In fact, the new CEO won't be drawing as astronomical a salary as the current CEO.

It goes without saying that the Indian cricketers will not see any pay cuts. However, Virat Kohli and his men are certainly going to lose out on the match fees, as there is no likelihood of cricket being played any time soon.

An Indian cricketer makes Rs. 15 lakh for a Test, Rs. 7 lakh for an ODI and Rs. 5 lakh for a T20I. As for the contract pay, a top retainer (A+) gets around Rs. 7 crore, while the other categories are Rs. 5 crore (A), Rs. 3 crore (B) and Rs. 1 crore (C).

If the overall income of BCCI gets affected due to the cancellation or shortening of the IPL, the Indian cricketers could face some losses when the annual contracts are renewed. Even the domestic cricketers, who were supposed to get a hike, will have to wait.

"It is not going to happen now," a source suggested.

However, the silver lining in this bleak time is that none of the players are going to lose out on endorsement money. "Players may lose money if IPL doesn't happen and of course the match fees if international games don't happen. But the big bucks earned though endorsements will remain intact," the source added.