Ageing former players can't wait forever, said the president of the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA), Ashok Malhotra, on Monday (July 20), urging the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to meet the longstanding demands of ex-cricketers.
The demands, as per a report by PTI, "include pension for former players who have played less than 25 first-class games, pension for widows of former cricketers, increase in medical insurance from Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh and a benevolent fund to Manoj Prabhakar, whose BCCI ban ended in 2005 for match-fixing charges against him."
The ICA is India's first-ever players' association and was formed last year after BCCI's adoption of the Lodha reforms as made necessary by the Supreme Court of India. The body was granted Rs 2 crore by the BCCI earlier this year to start off its operations. In the long run, however, the ICA is expected to self-sustain.
"It has been close to 10 months (since the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI took charge) but nothing has happened for the former players. The ICA after all, is for the welfare of former cricketers and some of them who are as old as 70, cannot wait forever," Malhotra told PTI.
"I request the BCCI again to look into our demands. There are three former cricketers on the BCCI Apex Council (Ganguly and ICA representatives Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad. I am sure they understand the plight of the former cricketers. Four meetings (Apex Council) have taken place but nothing has happened," added the 63-year-old, who played seven Tests and 20 ODIs for India.
Malhotra has been accused by the ICA directors of making public statements and approaching BCCI on important matters related to the players’ body without discussing them internally.
He was again found in the midst of a controversy when in his latest video sent to ICA members Malhotra was claimed to have said he is not worried about domestic cricket and the administrative mess that Bihar cricket is in.
"I had simply said that my concern and focus is on ICA and welfare of former cricketers. It is natural as I am the ICA president. What have we done in the last 10 months? Nothing, apart from raising money for former cricketers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Whenever I make a point, it is objected to more often than not. At the end of the day, we are all there to take care of former players." he concluded.
