Srinagar, July 28: While J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) is in slumber and has become a one man show in absence of proper governing body, other cricket Association in India are taking revolutionary steps for the welfare of cricket and cricketers.
In a major step, Punjab Cricket Association has become second state unit after Uttarakhand to offer annual contracts to their cricketers this season.
The step has been taken despite the uncertainty looming over the current domestic season.
PCA has put in place an annual contract system for its top-30 players for 2020-21. PCA finalised a list of 30 cricketers, including women, who will be given annual contracts for the upcoming season. This scheme will be placed before the BCCI’s Apex Council on August 8 and a formal approval will be sought.
Hindustan Times Sports reported that the players have been divided into A B and C categories. Category A and B will have 10 players each who will be paid Rs 8 lakh and Rs 6 lakh per annum. Category C will comprise 10 U-19 players who will be given a monthly remuneration of Rs 10,000 each. Shubman Gill, Anmolpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh, Siddharth Kaul, India women’s T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur and wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia have been included in the A-list contracts. It will also include cricketers who played for India or India ‘A’ last season.
Wicket-keeper batsman Anmol Malhotra also has made the top list owing to his stupendous performance for Punjab in U-23 and Ranji Trophy last season. It should be noted that Harmanpreet Kaur is in the Grade A (Rs 50 lakh) while Taniya Bhatia is in Grade B (Rs 30 lakh) BCCI contracted players’ list too. There won’t be any contracts for U-16 cricketers, HT Sports further reported.
If there is a curtailed season due to the ongoing pandemic, there could be deductions in the contract packages. PCA will release the final list of players on Tuesday.