Ganguly backs pay hike for players

India captain Virat Kohli and his predecessor M S Dhoni’s demand for a pay hike for the team was on Thursday accepted by the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

“Absolutely, players should get money, why not? The Board makes so much money, the players should also get it. When Virat Kohli plays, the entire country watches him,” Ganguly said at promotional event here.

The former left-handed batsman also said that the players should be looked after well by the cricket authorities as their careers are short.

“Players should be very well looked after because the (career) span is only 15 years. Not many (players) play for 15 (years), very few play for 20 (years). So, I am a big supporter of that (pay hike),” Ganguly said.

“The BCCI does that. If you look at the way the players are looked after these days, it’s phenomenal. I have actually seen the entire circle. When I played in 1991, for the entire trip in Australia, I got paid ₹ 30,000, and when I finished in 2013, I could see the drastic change. It’s in every profession,” he added.

Kohli and Dhoni today met CoA chief Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri in the Capital.

The Indian cricketers’ central contracts saw more than two-fold rise during their last hike with top players in Grade A allotted ₹ 2 crore annually. Earlier, they were drawing ₹ 1 crore.

Meanwhile, Ganguly said if skipper Kohli is keen to sort out the future tour programme (FTP) issue with the Board, it would be done.

Kohli recently complained of lack of time to prepare for the upcoming tour of South Africa for which the team is scheduled to leave on December 27, just a couple of days after winding up the ongoing home series against Sri Lanka.

“Virat is the captain, if he sorts the issue out, it will get done. I don’t see much problem there. Before going on tours, I think they should clear it out. It isn’t difficult to sit down and talk about this and clear things,” president of the Cricket Association of Bengal said.

“All the players are playing well. They are all hitting centuries. Virat is in top form, so it’s okay, let them play,” he added.

Kohli had stressed on the necessity to space out two successive series, as he felt that the team needed to do its preparation differently for a bigger series such as the upcoming one against South Africa in South Africa.

Chief National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand was also present at the function.