Byju’s, MPL want out of BCCI contract

Appointment of the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee comprising of Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe and Sulakshana Naik was ratified at BCCI's Apex Council meeting

In a virtual Apex Council meeting of the BCCI, the appointment of the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee comprising of Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe and Sulakshana Naik was ratified. This committee will be conducting interviews of applicants who have applied for the post of national selectors over the weekend.

Image used for representational purpose (HT Photo)

The new selection committee will then be tasked with finalising the annual retainership contracts of the Indian team. For the same, it is learned that inputs of the current selection committee Chairman Chetan Sharma have also been sought.

Sharma who has reapplied to continue as a selector from the North Zone has communicated to the board that Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer should get a promotion in the ongoing contract cycle.

The BCCI has four categories for the central contracts -- A+ which has annual remuneration of ₹7 cr, A ( ₹5 cr), B ( ₹3 cr) and C ( ₹1 cr) and in the last round of revisions, Pandya and Cheteshwar Pujara had lost their Grade A status but that could change this time around.

Currently, only three cricketers (Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah) are in the A+ grade.

Byju’s, MPL want to end contract

The meeting also discussed the status of jersey sponsors Byju’s and kit sponsors MPL. Both the companies, it is learned, want out of the contract which runs until the end of 2023. It was decided that Secretary Jay Shah and Interim CEO Hemang Amin will be dealing with these contractual matters. The two companies for now have been asked to continue till the end of March with a number of home series lined up.

In June, Byju's had extended its jersey sponsorship agreement with the Board until November 2023 for an estimated $35 million. But the issue of non-payment of dues by Byju’s had come up in a previous BCCI meeting. At the time, the ed-tech major had refuted such claims. But following continued funding concerns and the prevailing market situation, they want to rationalise their sponsorship spending.

Byju’s had replaced Oppo back in 2019. Byju's was also one of the sponsors of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The meeting also ratified a one-time payment to be made to V Jayadevan, whose rain-rule formula (VJD) has been used in rain-affected domestic limited overs matches.