New Delhi: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had made it clear soon after taking over the post that improving the income of domestic players was on the top of his mind. And now with the coronavirus outbreak, the fate of the domestic players is something that needs clarity as they arent contracted. And GM Cricket Operations Saba Karim has said that the office-bearers will decide what is best for them.
“The office-bearers will take a call,” Karim told IANS.
Coming to the domestic season, even though there’s still a lot of time left for the start of 2020-21 domestic cricket season in India, questions have also been raised over the future amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Karim said that the board will follow a wait and watch policy.
The season is slated to kick-off with the Duleep Trophy in August. However, given that the effect of COVID-19 has not yet come under control, the BCCI is not yet ready with any back-up plan as it wants to wait for normalcy to return.
Karim has said that they will see how things pan out once the lockdown ends on May 3 and on work according to the advisories from the government thereafter.
“As of now, we have not had any back-up planning done. We will be flexible in our approach to have as many games as possible in this season. But it all depends on the guidelines and the advisory from the government once the lockdown ends,” he explained.
The 2019-20 had to end abruptly after the Ranji Trophy final. The season-ending Irani Cup, which was to start four days after the Ranji final, was put on hold indefinitely due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus, which has so far claimed more than 1000 lives in the country.
When asked about if he is hopeful of having a timely start to the domestic season, Karim said: “I really can’t say anything at this point of time. We will have to wait for the lockdown to end and the government advisories following that. Only then we can decide how much cricket can be played.”
Earlier, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra had also told IANS that if it comes to BCCI to host Indian Premier League or the T20 World Cup, they should go with the cash-rich league as it will help the domestic cricketers as majority of them don’t have central contracts with BCCI and depend on the match fees.
