The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced pay hike in monthly pensions to former cricket players and umpires registered under its wing. The board has taken note of the financial conditions of India’s ex-international and domestic men’s and women’s cricketers and contemporary match officials.
It is understood this was a longstanding demand made by the Indian Cricketers Association, seeing the financial state of a lot of the ex-players and umpires, who depend largely on income from officiating games during a domestic season and often depend on other jobs to sustain their livelihood off season.
The BCCI has confirmed that around 900 personnel part of the Indian cricket ecosystem are set to benefit from their decision, with 675 of them set to enjoy a 100 per cent raise in their previous sums received from the board.
“The welfare of our cricketers be it former or present is a top priority, and increasing pension amounts is a step in that direction. The BCCI values the contribution the umpires have made over the years and this is one way to express our gratitude for their diligent services to Indian Cricket,”
said board secretary Jay Shah in a media release issued on June 11.
Fans and experts welcomed BCCI’s decision to increase monthly pensions to all former cricketers and also to raise the pay for all the match officials.
According to BCCI’s pension scheme for players, all first-class cricketers who have played 25-49 matches until the 2003-04 season were previously paid INR 15,000 per month. Those men and women will now receive a healthier sum of 30,000.
Similarly, those who played 50 to 74 matches and 75 and more up until the end of the 2003-04 season both received INR 22,500 and INR 30,000 per month. They will now get INR 45,000 and 52,500, respectively
