Rajasthan Royals: Journalist stands corrected on franchise's treatment to net bowlers during IPL 2023

Days after Rajasthan Royals denied the allegations of a senior journalist of giving differential treatment to their net bowlers during IPL 2023. The said scribe has also issued a clarification saying he stands corrected for not presenting the correct figures.

Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals is in the news for reportedly offering an annual contract to England star batter Jos Buttler, worth Rs 40 crore per annum. The same franchise was being accused of exploiting net bowlers during the IPL 2023 season.

It was alleged that the Jaipur-based franchise neither took good care of the net bowlers roped in for the sixteenth edition of the cash-rich league nor did it offer them a reasonable remuneration for their services.

Senior journalist, Vikrant Gupta, revealed on the Sports Tak YouTube channel that RR net bowlers were offered just Rs 50 thousand for their services for more than two months. He also claimed that they were not even staying with the rest of the team at the hotel, instead, they were given accommodation at the academy.

As per the journalist, Royal Challengers Bangalore offered a sum of Rs 1.5 lakh to each net bowler for his services during the entire IPL season and even takes good care of them.

"Rajasthan Royals' net bowlers weren't allowed to stay in the team hotel. Instead, they were made to stay in academy rooms. The Royal Challengers Bangalore gives Rs 1.5 Lakhs to its net bowlers, while at Rajasthan Royals, they were paid a mere Rs 50,000 for 2.5 months of work," Gupta said on the YouTube channel owned by TV Today Network.

He further revealed that RCB paid Rs 9 lakh (approx USD 11000) as remuneration to the net bowlers for their services in IPL 2023. While RR - the finalists of the previous IPL season - spent just Rs 3 lakh.

Rajneesh Gurbani, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Anoop, Karthik, Shubham Yadav, Wihan Lubbe and Evan Jones were roped in as the net bowlers for this season by the Jaipur-based franchise.

Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals' failed to make it to the IPL 2023 playoffs and finished fifth with seven wins and as many losses in the season. The Men in Pink started their campaign on a confident note but their form slumped at the back end of the league stage in the tournament.

Rajasthan Royals Deny Differential Treatment in IPL 2023

But the franchise disregarded any differential treatment claims to MyKhel. Speaking to MyKhel, the Royals spokesperson denied those allegations and claimed no such differential treatment on the net bowlers happened in IPL 2023. The franchise also informed MyKhel that it remunerated the net bowlers as per standard practice and also took good care of them.

The franchise also claimed to clarify the issue with the respective journalist, who later claimed he presented the facts incorrectly.

Journalist stands corrected

In a Sports Tak show, Vikrant Gupta clarified that he was mistaken while presenting the 'soft underbelly of IPL' and that the Jaipur-based franchise didn't treat their support staff, net bowlers in this case. The journalist claimed that the franchise paid a remuneration of INR 75000/month to the net bowlers who have not played for India. While Rajneesh Gurbani - who got an India call-up a few years back - was paid Rs 6 lakh for his services.

"We didn't discriminate with our net bowlers, who were part of the support staff during IPL 2023. Some net bowlers had to stay at relatively cheaper hotels during the Guwahati leg because of the unavailability of rooms in the city due to the G20 summit but they weren't bad hotels.

"We faced a similar hotel crunch for some days in Jaipur due to the wedding season in the state capital. During those days, the net bowlers were given accommodation at the Rajasthan Cricket Academy. But we ensured that the players had the best of facilities," the journalist quoted the Royals spokesperson as saying.