ICA president Ashok Malhotra had said players should be enduring pay cut due to game's suspension.
Former skipper Sunil Gavaskar chastised Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA) president Ashok Malhotra, asking with whose authority did he say that the top international, first-class players should be enduring pay cut from their salaries while the game remains suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"Like with any sport, if you don’t play you don’t get paid and that’s what will happen. What was amusing though was to read that the president of the Indian Cricketers’ Association has said there should be pay cuts for the India internationals and the first-class players too," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
While in England about 20 per cent of the players' salaries will be deducted to make up for the losses suffered during this phase, the BCCI is focussed on ensuring the players go unaffected by the circumstances.
Board Treasurer Arun Dhumal did confirm there have been no discussions held on pay cut amid the administrative regime. “No, we have not spoken about this (pay cut). Whatever the steps after this setback, it will be taken judiciously and keeping the interest of all people in mind," Dhumal told IANS.
"Any step taken needs to be thought out and right now we haven’t even thought about it. Obviously this is a big setback, but we will go about this in a way that nobody gets affected. These things can be discussed once things settle down."
And hence, Gavaskar was critical of Malhotra's comments.
“One can understand him trying to curry favour with the BCCI but with whose authority is he talking about the cuts is the question," he wrote.
"The current India internationals and the first-class players are not members of the players’ body so he can’t be speaking on their behalf. It’s easy to talk about pay cuts if it doesn’t hurt your own pocket."
(Inputs from IANS)