Player contracts delayed due to BCCI's AGM postponement

With the BCCI deciding to postpone its annual general meeting (AGM), player contracts are going to be delayed as well.

With the BCCI deciding to postpone its annual general meeting (AGM), player contracts are going to be delayed as well.

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Even though there have been occasions when contracts have been handed out in October and November, the cycle of payment starts from October 1.

Explaining the situation, a top BCCI official told HT, "The status quo will persist until the AGM is held. Technically, we can't enter any financial transaction in the month of October this year because our last year's account is still pending and yet to be approved. So, the simple thing is to have a new contract once the AGM is over."

But the Board finds itself is a tricky situation. There are a few players whose performances will come up for discussion, and could lead to either an upgrade/downgrade or omission.

Those on the verge of getting omitted or downgraded can enjoy an extended run. If it takes two-three months to get the new contracts in place, the players will have less than a year in their annual contracts; that is if the contracts get renewed in time in October 2015.

To tackle such a scenario, the official said, "Nothing significant is expected to happen in the gradation, but then, we can always compensate through apportion payment."

However, there are a clutch of players in the existing pool whose performance calls for an evaluation while drawing up the new contracts.

While Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar are due to be elevated, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik's performances should give them an idea of where they stand.