Six possible reasons why India fails to produce high-quality umpires

#2 Same salary structure for everyone

All the Grade B, C, and D umpires have the same pay-scale

The BCCI has a 4-grade structure of dividing the umpires. Former and current ICC umpires take up the Grade A. The remaining 80% of the umpires are divided into Grade B, C and D depending on performance, experience, and various other factors.

The Grade-A officials get a total of ₹40,000 per day for officiating in First-class and List-A games while all the other grade umpires get ₹30,000

For example, even if an umpire officiating in a Ranji Trophy tournament has the poorest of the seasons and gets demoted to Grade C or Grade D, It wouldn’t matter much to him as the pay scale would still be the same and he will be officiating in much easier games with relatively lower pressure. The salary structure is designed in a way that keeps the umpires less motivated and no enthusiasm to end up in the top.

It is understood that Grade A and B umpires get to umpire in Ranji Trophy games and because of the pressure the teams exert, many umpires don’t mind officiating in a much lesser stress-free environment with the same pay scale.

The BCCI undoubtedly needs to restructure the pay-scale and make the higher grades more lucrative so that all the umpires strive to end up in the top tier.