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The Board of Control for Cricket in India has started clearing the long-standing dues of the domestic cricketers, who suffered financially after the 2020-21 season was curtailed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Many Indian cricketers struggled financially after the Ranji Trophy was not held last year for the first time in its history. The women's T20 games were also curtailed due to the pandemic.
"BCCI has started clearing the compensation amount due for not having the red ball tournament last season," a senior BCCI official said.
"A lot of players have started receiving money and there are still lot of players who would be getting the payments. The process is expected to be completed in next few weeks."
In September last, the BCCI had said that the cricketers who participated in the 2019-20 season will be getting 50 per cent match fees as compensation for the 2020-21 season.
"The process is for state units to raise the invoice based on all those who had played in the season prior to COVID-19. The state units that raised invoices to BCCI have already had its players receiving money in their accounts," the BCCI official said.
"Some state units are yet to raise invoices so their players are waiting."
It will be a welcome news for the domestic cricketers with the new Ranji Trophy season to be played from January 13 to March 17 across seven venues even though a change in schedule cannot be ruled out given the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country after the emergence of Omicron variant.
The BCCI had earlier decided to increase the match fee of the players during its Apex Council meeting in September following the recommendations made by the Working Committee comprising former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin, Yudhvir Singh, Santosh Menon, Jaydev Shah, Avishek Dalmiya, Rohan Jaitley and Devajit Saikia.
According to the new pay slabs, the senior men will earn between Rs 40,000 to 60,000 per day of cricket, while senior women is set to receive up to Rs 20,000 per day.