The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on Sunday agreed to give a 100 percent pay raise to its senior men’s cricketers from the 2024-25 season, according to ESPNCricinfo.

The decision was approved at the MCA’s recent apex council meeting. It will effectively double a player’s earnings through the season, as per ESPNCricinfo.

Currently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) pays their cricketers at the senior men’s level across three levels. Players earn Rs 60,000 a day once they play over 40 first-class matches.

Meanwhile, cricketers who have played 21-40 matches, earn Rs 50,000 a day. Players who have appeared in less than 20 first-class games, earn Rs 40,000 a day.

Speaking about the new decision, MCA president Amol Kale said that the player should earn more. He added that “especially” those who play Ranji Trophy should earn more.

“We felt that the player should earn more, especially those who play Ranji Trophy cricket. For us red-ball cricket matters the most as the Ranji Trophy holds a special place for everyone in Mumbai,” MCA president was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying.

Earlier, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that there will be a lot more playing in the Ranji Trophy from now on if they get a better salary.

“If the Ranji Trophy fee can be doubled or tripled, certainly there will be a lot more people playing the Ranji Trophy, [and a] lot less pullouts. They will all be wanting to play with the slab system – [if] every ten first-class matches you get that much more – so I would request the BCCI to look at that aspect as well,” Gavaskar said.

Recently, Mumbai won their 42nd Ranji Trophy after defeating Vidarbha in the finals.

First Published: Mar 24 2024 | 4:04 PM IST