BCCI to negotiate on players' contract after B'desh tour

New Delhi, May 4 (UNI) In an apparent climb down from its stand of equal retainership fee for all Bangladesh bound cricketers, BCCI today said they can sign the contract after returning from the tour following reports that the players have reservations over some clauses.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told TV channels that if the players still have reservations about the new contracts then the negotiations will take place after the Bangladesh tour.

''If the players do not sign the contract the Board will sort it out after the Bangladesh tour,'' Mr Shah told CNN-IBN.

When asked about the reports of players' refusal to sign on the contracts on present form, he said, ''I have no information on this. I am going to Kolkata day after tomorrow, and if the players have any reservations, they will let me know.'' Till the end of September last, the players were divided into three categories (A, B and C) with annual retainers of Rs 50, Rs 35 and Rs 20 lakh respectively.

Following the World Cup debacle in the West Indies where India failed to progress beyond the group stages losing to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, BCCI scrapped the graded contracts system and introduced a flat retainership.

The Board followed it up with an announcement that all 15 players selected for Bangladesh will get equal retainership fee of Rs 5 lakhs.

Changes were also made in the players' match fees and bonuses, which are awarded besides the retainer.

Each player will get a match fee of Rs 1.5 lakh per ODI and Rs 2.5 lakh per Test. The bonus for winning an ODI at home is Rs 1 lakh per player which will be raised to Rs 2 lakh for winning abroad.

The corresponding bonus for Test wins are Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh.

The team will get a bonus of Rs 50 lakhs for ODI series win at home which will be raised to Rs. 75 lakhs for overseas series win.

For Test series win at home, the team will be given bonus of Rs 75 lakhs and Rs 1.2 crore for overseas Test series win.

There is no bonus for drwan Tests at home, while Rs 1 lakh will be shared by the team for overseas Test drawn.

UNI