Creation of a small, elite and super club within the dressing room may not be conducive to very cordial relations among the senior players. Granting even that it was desirable, elevating Rohit Sharma to that club is nothing but sheer favouritism without any consideration. He has done nothing special to merit A+ elevation. For Rohit Sharma, it is mentionable that in the recent past events to merit an automatic selection even into the playing eleven across all three formats, and certainly not Tests. Once it is decided to splurge on the annual earnings of the BCCI under mandated players’ contractual retention policies even as it is seen to have the capacity to grant such largess, to be sure, it does not matter very much who gets to decide and finalise the eligible players list and the precise apportionment thereof.
For, after all the entity in CoA is essentially a SC appointed authority in a kind of misuse of power and thus the question whether it is the Board or CoA that should be seen assuming the bellwether role is just a formality in the face of wide ranging oversight powers the latter enjoy. Ashwin after a longish spells in test match cricket and reap of rich harvest of wickets at home going to get less, whereas a batsman having a poultry unit while opening the innings gets more. What a shame to cricket?
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Committee of Administrators has announced the Annual Player Contracts for the period from October 2017 to September 2018. A new category A+ has been added for the top rung cricketers. The players in the A+ category will get Rs 7 crore retainer ship. However, former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been left in the A Category with Rs 5 crore annual retainer fee. The CoA was of the view that the performance and position of Indian Cricket needs to be recognised with the fee structure comparable to the best in the world.
Nickhil Mani
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
