The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to pay an additional 50% fee to the domestic cricketers who played in the 2019-20 season. This decision has been taken to compensate for the loss that the cricketers faced, due to the cancelled domestic season of 2020-21. The domestic season was cancelled citing Covid-19.
"Cricketers who participated in 2019-20 Domestic Season will get 50 percent additional match fee as compensation for season 2020-21 lost due to #COVID19 situation," said BCCI secretary Jay Shah to ANI.
BCCI had decided to form a panel to help the domestic cricketers who are suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic as Ranji Trophy was cancelled for the first time in 87 years due to the pandemic.
According to reports, the Ranji Trophy will be held from January 5, 2022, to March 20, 2022. This year all the Ranji Trophy matches will be played in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum and Chennai.
BCCI's decision to provide for 50% match fees will come as a relief to some of the cricketers who solely depend on domestic cricket for survival. For many domestic players, Ranji Trophy is their only source of income. As the tournament was cancelled this year due to Covid, many cricketers faced financial problems.
“Every first-class cricketer who doesn’t play the IPL is finding it frustrating. Payment for the cancelled Ranji season should be a priority (of the BCCI). International cricketers are getting their salaries and players in the IPL will get their money, but what about first-class cricketers? We really depend on this income. We don’t have ads or big contracts to rely on,” said Faiz Fazal, Vidarbha's captain to The New Indian Express on May 21, 2021.