Ratnakar Shetty: Players need to work out modalities of contract system for first-class cricketers

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said when he took charge in late 2019 that his biggest priority was to look after first-class cricketers. On Saturday, former India cricketer Parthiv Patel, Shishir Hattangadi, former Mumbai player and Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s first Chief Administrative Officer weighed in on the need for state associations to have player contracts at Sportstar's West Sports Conclave. "The international contracts of Indian cricketers began in the Sri Lanka tour of 1997 when someone like Debasis Mohanty was getting the same match fee as Sachin Tendulkar. Ajit Wadekar's team which won the England and West Indies Test series won prize money of Rs 1500/each - look at what the players are paid today. “When Gujarat won the Ranji Trophy, BCCI’s prize money was Rs 2 crores, GCA gave Rs 3 crores, so every player – who had played a full season – got approximately Rs 35 lakh, which is higher than a minimum IPL contract.