By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian cricketers have refused to sign the annual contracts in its present form, a top player confirmed Friday.
"Yes, we will not sign the contract with the clauses it currently contains," a senior player told IANS from Kolkata, where the team is attending a conditioning camp ahead of its Bangladesh tour.
The players' annual contracts, which expired in September, were supposed to be signed before the team leaves for Bangladesh Sunday. The drafts had been sent to their homes a few days ago.
Friday's development means that the contracts, which expired seven months ago, will now be deferred by at least another month – when the tour of Bangladesh ends May 29.
There are indications the players want amendments to certain clauses. One clause is believed to be the restriction on the number of endorsements (three) that a player can do at a time.
"I have no information on this (on the players' refusal to sign). I am going to Kolkata the day after tomorrow (Sunday), and if the players have any reservations, they will let me know," Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said earlier in the day in Mumbai.
"If the players do not sign the contract the board will sort it out after the Bangladesh tour," he said.
Contracts have been offered to every player and Rs.500,000 is the annual retainership amount.
"In future, each player when selected for an international tour will have to sign a contract," said Shah.
After the World Cup debacle, the BCCI scrapped the graded contract system, according to which the players were divided into three groups and received different amounts.
Those in A got Rs.5 million, group B players received Rs.3.5 million and those in C group got Rs.2 million. This was besides the match fees for Tests and One-day Internationals.
Now, besides the retainership, a player will also receive approximately Rs.250,000 for a Test match and Rs.150,000 for a One-Day International.
No player has been paid any money since the old contract expired in September.
India will play three ODIs in Bangladesh, starting May 10, followed by two Test matches.