Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman demand remuneration from the BCCI

What's the story?

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that comprises of three stalwarts of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, has asked for suitable payment for its job of picking India’s new head coach. The former Indian batsmen have stated that they do not want their functions to be honorary.

The demand was made to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, who is expected take a final call on this matter soon. Some officials in BCCI believe that the ‘Big Three’ of Indian cricket should not be paid pertaining to their services to the committee.

A BCCI functionary, while talking to the Indian Express, said that “This happens to be a BCCI sub-committee, plus one of them happens to be a BCCI member. Since members of various other BCCI committees don’t get paid, CAC can’t be an exception. There was this demand earlier too, but BCCI turned it down.”

In case you didn’t know..

Anil Kumble’s head-coach contract with the BCCI will expire on June 23, right after the Champions Trophy ends. In light of rumours about alleged difference in opinion between Indian team members and Kumble, the CAC was asked to look into the matter once again so as to resolve differences before the Champions Trophy.

CAC also has to undertake the role of selecting a new coach for the team once Kumble’s term has ended.

The details

CAC’s inclination towards subsequent payment was first seen in 2015, a few months after the committee was formed. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the then BCCI president, had rejected this demand, citing that no BCCI officials are paid for their services.

According to him, BCCI only gives a daily allowance, accommodation and a car on days of meetings to its panel members.

What next?

It remains to see what decision Johri takes with respect to this demand. However, the top priority of both the parties is to be find the right candidate to fill the position of the head coach before the team leaves for the West Indies tour in July.

Author’s take

While it is understandable for the three cricketing icons to believe that they deserve remuneration for the services, the rules should be the same for them as they are for everyone else on the committee. Following Ramchandra Guha’s fiery letter to Vinod Rai after his resignation, BCCI should be especially careful of trying to privy to ‘superstar culture’ that was criticised vehemently by him.