Cash crunch at the BCCI? Tell me the other one!

Anant Gaundalkar

There can be no argument of the fact that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is the richest cricketing body in the world.

And the treasury has been swelled further, to monumental proportions, thanks to the fact that in the 1996-1997 cricket season now in its climactic phase, India has played cricket continuously, beginning with the Wills World Cup in February 1996 and continuing, a year and three months later, with the ongoing Independence Cup four nation quadrangular.

In this period, India (this includes the league phase of the I-Cup) would have appeared in 48 one-day matches and 15 Tests in nine different countries - and that is unprecedented by any standards.

While the BCCI never does believe in revealing the extent of its earnings, an estimate can be made on the basis of known factors.

As shown in the table below, the players will have earned in all a sum total of Rs 81.75 million during this season, while the BCCI would have, at a conservative estimate, netted Rs 122.64 million during the same period.

Of course, not all players would have earned equal amounts - earnings obviously would depend on the number of games played. For instance, team captain Sachin Tendulkar and his deputy Anil Kumble, both of whom have a 100 per cent attendance record for the year, will at the end of the season be richer by Rs 6.12 million apiece.

It must be noted here that though we pegged the BCCI's earnings at a conservative Rs 122.64 million, this does not take into consideration the guarantee money the Board earns when the Indian team tours foreign countries, the sponsorship money earned from various tournaments, and the television rights earnings when games are staged in India. To give you an idea of what kind of money we are talking about here, the ongoing Independence Cup alone will fetch the Board a net profit of Rs nine million.

Thus far, the Board has kept a lid on its earnings via other tournaments. Interestingly, even an office bearer who resigned in controversial circumstances has refused to reveal the exact amounts of the BCCI's earnings - a clear enough indication of the enormous sums at stake.

So where, then, does the BCCI get off, claiming that it is short of funds to undertake necessary development work for the game in the country?

Click here to view the complete details of money earned by players and the Indian Board during the various series since the Wills World Cup; arranged in chronological order