Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and former Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah joins a seven-member working group formed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to oversee the conduct of the upcoming 2021-22 domestic season. The other five members are DDCA President Rohan Jaitley, UPCA secretary Yudhvir Singh, ACA secretary Davajit Saikia, CAB secretary Avishek Dalmiya and KSCA secretary Santosh Menon.
The work of this seven-member committee is to formalise a compensation package for BCCI’s domestic players for the pandemic-induced, truncated 2020-21 domestic season. Last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the absence of the Ranji Trophy led to a significant loss in player earnings, leaving many layers without government jobs looking for opportunities elsewhere.
The average earning of domestic male players is 12-14 lakh rupees per season. In the 2020-21 season, it decreased to 3-4 lakh rupees. This year the seven-member committee will be responsible for the feasibility of bio-bubbles across the country for the conduct of the domestic season, apart from finalising venues and logistics.
BCCI President and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly informed Espncricinfo reporters, “We will create bio-bubbles. We created bio-bubbles for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy last time. We will have to do the same. Without the bubble, cricket cannot happen even for this season.”