No time frame set for introducing new contracts for players

Mumbai, Oct 4 (UNI) The new dispensation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in no hurry and have not set a specific time frame yet to introduce the new contracts for the 2008-09 series, with the old ones having expired on September 30 this year.

The new dispensation in the Board, with Shashank Manohar at the helm is expected to take some time to settle down after having taken over just a week back. It cannot be said that they will be put in place by such and such date, BCCI sources said today.

The 2007-08 BCCI players' contract saw international cricketers divided into four groups - A, B, C and D - with their annual retainers being Rs 60 lakh, Rs 40 lakh, Rs 25 lakh and Rs 15 lakh respectively.

A total of 33 players, including seven in the lead group, got the contracts last season - up from 17 the previous season - following the introduction of the fourth group of up and coming players.

Test skipper Anil Kumble, senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, apart from one-day and Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, experienced pacer Zaheer Khan and flamboyant batsman Yuvraj Singh, were in Group A.

It's a debatable point how many of them will retain their places when their contracts are renewed for the 2008-09 season by the BCCI, with not only Kumble but also Dravid and Ganguly out of the limited over picture.

Yuvraj has since then struggled to cement his Test spot, while Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag, placed in Group B, have performed well in Tests and limited overs matches to push strongly their claims for an upward revision.

There are also players like Wasim Jaffer, S Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthick, in Group B, whose performances have dipped and they could be downgraded to C.

Group C had Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar and Robin Uthappa, nowhere in the picture now, while Group D contained Joginder Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Ranedeb Bose who had failed to impress.

Thus, a lot of changes are likely in the contracted players' list, when it's decided by the Board.

The new players contract list is expected to be drawn up by BCCI's new president Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan and the chairman of selectors K Srikkanth.

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