Niranjan Shah admitted that no player has so far submitted the contract papers, although they seem to be willing to give the endorsement papers.
MUMBAI: It’s official. The Board and the players don’t have a common ground on the contentious players’ contract issue. The Board has virtually admitted that the contracts could well be signed after the Bangladesh tour.
“I don’t have a feedback yet from the players. If there are any reservations from their side, they can be discussed. I am going to Kolkata on Sunday and will talk to the players,” Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah told DNA.
“But then, it may not be possible for them to sign the contracts before they leave for Dhaka. They can do that after returning from the tour. As such there is no deadline.”
He admitted that no player has so far submitted the contract papers, although they seem to be willing to give the endorsement papers. The Board had distributed a voluminous 38-page contract papers to the players.
The secretary’s statement reflects a virtual turnaround by the Board which had, only recently, sent out message to the players that they have to submit the contract and endorsement papers before the start of the camp, now underway in Kolkata. It is also reflective of the softened stand of the Board which had taken some ‘harsh’ decisions at its working committee meeting on March 7.
Shah, who will reach Kolkata on Sunday, is expected to have parleys with senior members of the team, including Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble. The Board secretary will fly to Kolkata from New Delhi after meeting Sharad Pawar. It is expected that he will carry some message from the president to the players.
But the players are believed to be up in arms. It has been learnt that the players had a meeting in Kolkata on Friday and have prepared a list of their demands, some of which are increase in annual retainership, increase in match fee, demand for players’ share of money and increase in the cap on the number of endorsements.
They also want a graded system as they feel it is ‘unfair’ to club Sachin Tendulkar and Manoj Tiwary in the same bracket. The players will submit the demands when they meet Shah on Sunday.
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