Virat Kohli-Led Team India Management Contingent In Meeting With Administrators

Virat Kohli led a three-member group representing the men's senior team management that met the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) Vinod Rai in New Delhi on Thursday. The team also included former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Ravi Shastri. This meeting was held to discuss issues like player retainership policy, player salaries and the schedule for future tours for the Indian team. CoA chief Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri attended the meeting.

"We had extensive discussions with players on issues that pertain to them directly, which means the number of matches they have to play, the Future Tours Program (FTP) and compensation package etc.," Rai told reporters after the meeting which lasted more than two hours.

"All the inputs they have to give us were taken and we are going to factor those in. The FTP, we bounced it off them. Presentations have been made and they are in agreement with the FTP so that they get enough rest. Number of days, I can't tell you as we have not yet worked it out," Rai said.

As per the current pay structure, contracted Grade A players are paid rupees two crore annually, Grade B players are in the rupees one crore bracket, followed by Grade C at Rs 50 lakh per year.

The per Test match fee for the first XI players stands at Rs 15 lakh, while they are paid Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh per ODI and Twenty20 respectively. The players outside first XI but in the squad are paid half these amounts. Former coach Anil Kumble, during a presentation to the COA, had demanded rupees five crore for the Grade A players.

The modalities of the new pay structure are, however, not yet known.

"This was a path-breaking initiative, we feel we've found a common ground and aligned our thoughts for the betterment of the game - be it the policies under which the player remuneration and FTP will be worked upon," Rai stated.

It has also been reliably learnt that the Indian team, which is scheduled to play a full series in England between July and September next year, will travel there two weeks in advance to get acclimatised with the conditions.

Kohli was unhappy about the tight schedule that Team India follows, which left them with no time whatsoever to prepare for the important series in South Africa after the current series with Sri Lanka ends.

(With PTI inputs)