Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni to Meet CoA Chief Vinod Rai For Players’ Salary Hike Ahead of New Contract

The players’ contracts expired on September 30 this year.

New Delhi: Indian captain Virat Kohli along with senior player MS Dhoni and head coach Ravi Shastri will meet the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Committee of Administrators (CoA) head Vinod Rai to discuss issues like player contracts and packed schedule later in the week.

According to The Indian Express report, the team management has approached CoA chief Vinod Rai to have a proper dialogue before BCCI finalises annual contracts. Pertinent to mention that the players’ contracts expired on September 30 this year.

As per the report, the players also want a hike in their salaries, since BCCI’s revenue has increased following the recent $2.5 billion Indian Premier League (IPL) broadcast deal with Star India.

Players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Ravi Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Murali Vijay, who are currently paced in Grade A, were paid Rs 2 crore as per the expired contract. While as Grade B and Grade C players drew Rs 1 crore and Rs 50 lakh respectively. 

“These players requested Rai to call them for a meeting as they have few issues to discuss before going to South Africa. So the BCCI has called three of them. As the third Test is starting on December 2, New Delhi has been chosen as the venue for the meeting. The major issues is the hike in players’ contract,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying in the report.

The CoA chief will also hear the concerns regarding the Future Tours Programme (FTP). This comes after Kohli had complained about the cramped schedule before the South Africa tour.

“Indian board has the habit of putting a series whenever they find a gap in their calendar. Players don’t want that and want to discuss it with the CoA,” the report stated while quoting a source.