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Xtra Time Web Desk: Finally some good news for the first class cricketers in the country as they are expected to see a hike in match fees from the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top officials – President Sourav Ganguly, Secretary Jay Shah, Vice-President Rajiv Shukla and Treasurer Arun Dhumal recently arrived at a decision to increase the match fees of the first class cricketers. There was a discussion about issuing contracts to domestic players but that has been put to rest as it will involve a lot of complication. The Ranji Trophy players will be paid depending on the matches they play.

As per a report in Dainik Jagran, cricketers who have played more than 20 first class games are likely to get match fees of Rs 60000 per day. The match fees for cricketers who have played less than 20 Ranji matches will be Rs 45000 per day. Under the current payment structure, the Ranji Trophy players earn Rs 35,000 per day per match – which adds up to INR 1.4 lakhs per game – with the amount halved for those on the bench. The players also receive INR 1,000 as daily allowance (DA).

This hike in match fees will be a welcome relief for the first class cricketers who have not been paid since last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 29, the BCCI did call for a special general meeting, but interestingly the pay compensation for domestic players was not even part of the agenda.

In the limited-overs matches, the players are entitled to receive INR 35,000 and INR 17,500 for each Vijay Hazare and Mushtaq Ali game respectively, with the DA the same as that of the Ranji Trophy. Thus, a player who plays all five group matches is set to earn INR 1.80 lakhs and INR 92,500 in each format respectively.