COA agree on future tour program, pay hike proposal by Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni
New Delhi: India captain Virat Kohli and his predecessor MS Dhoni's demand for a pay hike for the team was on Thursday accepted by the Committee of Administrators, which also took their inputs on the issue of cramped scheduling.
Kohli and Dhoni on Thursday met COA chief Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri here.
"We had extensive discussions with players on issues that pertain to them directly, which means the number of matches they have to play, the Future Tours Program (FTP) and compensation package etc," Rai told reporters after the meeting which lasted more than two hours. "
All the inputs they have to give us were taken and we are going to factor those in. The FTP, we bounced it off them. Presentations have been made and they are in agreement with the FTP so that they get enough rest. Number of days, I can't tell you as we have not yet worked it out," Rai said.
It has also been reliably learnt that the Indian team, which is scheduled to play a full series in England between July and September next year, will travel there two weeks in advance to get acclimatised with the conditions. This comes after Kohli complained of lack of time to prepare for the upcoming tour of South Africa for which the team is scheduled to leave on December 27, just a couple of days after winding up a home series against Sri Lanka.
On the proposed pay hike, Rai did not spell out the remuneration plan but said that both Kohli and Dhoni were in agreement with the structure which is being worked out. "The principles on which compensation package has to be structured, that has been agreed to. It's only a question of numbers now. We will now match the revenue with compensation that each player receives," the former CAG chief said.
When asked if there will be separate structures for red and white ball specialists, Rai said: "There was no discussion on this topic." He claimed he was unaware of reports that the Indian Premier League would be telecast live on Doordarshan. Rai did not forget to mention that players were happy that representatives of BCCI were having a dialogue with them instead of intimating them after taking unilateral decisions.
"All the discussions were very fruitful and they (Kohli and Dhoni) were very receptive as a consequence of which it's the first time that anyone is having a dialogue with them. Otherwise it used to be decisions taken and just communicated to them," Rai concluded.
