Last week, the board had also postponed the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy following the fresh surge of COVID-19 cases and the growing threat of the Omicron variant. COVID-19 cases have been multiplying in India in recent weeks with several states announcing night, and weekend curfews, amid other forms of restrictions and these are definitely not a good sign for Indian domestic cricket.However, amid all gloominess, there is a silver lining as well. Like, the Indian cricket board had successfully conducted the few domestic tournaments already this season before the recent spike in cases, which means there were some playing as well earning opportunities for cricketers.According to the BCCI, mid-way into the season, 748 matches have been completed with Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, U19 Challenger Trophy, U-19 Women’s Challenger, Vinoo Mankad Trophy, Women’s U-19 One-Day Trophy, Women’s senior One-Day Trophy, Women’s Senior One-Day Challenger Trophy and Men’s U-25 State A trophy seen through.Recently, the BCCI had also started to disburse the match fees it owed to hundreds of domestic cricketers — male and female — for the numerous tournaments that had to be shelved due to COVID-19 in the 2020/21 season.Taking note of the players’ concerns, the BCCI had formed a seven-member committee, led by former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, to find a suitable compensation mechanism for domestic cricketers. And, now the compensation payments are in line with the formula worked out by the group.Players from those associations, who have duly sent in the filled-in invoices have begun to be compensated 50 per cent of their regular earnings, an Espncricinfo report said. While the process has begun, a number of players are yet to receive payments because of procedural delays with regards to invoices raised.The delays are understood to be due to issues at the state associations’ end.A player who featured in eight games in the 2019/20 Ranji Trophy, for example, received Rs 11.20 lakh (USD 15,000 approx.), the match fee per day for the four-day tournament being Rs 35,000 (USD 470 approx.). For 2020/21, under the compensation structures drawn up, the same player will receive Rs 5.10 lakh (USD 6,800 approx.).Players who didn’t make the XI for certain games in 2019/20 will be compensated for 2020/21 on a pro-rata basis. For example, if a player was part of a team’s XI for four games and on the bench for four games in the 2019/20 season, for 2020/21, he will be compensated with 50 per cent of the match fees for four games and 50 per cent of the corresponding fees for players outside the starting XI for the remainder of the games.Meanwhile, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, who himself contracted COVID-19, has assured the state cricket associations that the board will do everything to restart the domestic season, which has been stymied due to the pandemic.”The BCCI would like to reassure (you) that it will do everything to restart the domestic season once the COVID situation is under control. We are committed to holding the remaining tournaments for this season. The Board will come back to you with a revised plan,” the BCCI president said in a letter to the presidents and secretaries of the state affiliates on January 5.Overall, the situation is not at all ideal for domestic cricketers but there is some hope. However, the nature of the pandemic will decide the fate of tournaments going ahead.
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