Punjab Cricket Association introduces annual contract system for top 30 players

Punjab Cricket Association introduces annual contract system: Punjab has become the second state in India to introduce player contracts.

PCA (Punjab Cricket Association) has become the second state association (after Uttarakhand Cricket Association) in the country to introduce annual contract system for its top 30 players across both men and women’s cricket.

Much like the national contracts, PCA will also classify players into three categories namely A, B and C. Category A and B will comprise of 10 players each who will receive INR 10 lakh and eight lakh per annum respectively.

As far as the category C is concerned, it will be composed of 10 U-19 players from the state who will receive a monthly remuneration of INR 10,000. It is worth mentioning that the U-16 players won’t benefit from the annual contract system which is termed as a “scholarship scheme”.

Punjab Cricket Association introduces annual contract system

The development is set to be a boom for the top 30 cricketers in the state. While annual contracts at the state level are common in other countries, it finding a place (although slowly) in India will work wonders for domestic players.

“We appointed a sub-committee which included the PCA vice-president, secretary, joint-secretary and Punjab senior men’s team captain to finalise the players’ list. Also, we formulated rules and set parameters according to which this contract system will run in future.

“The players were rated keeping in mind their seniority and performances. We don’t want our players to feel handicapped due to financial restraints and just focus on the game,” PCA secretary Puneet Bali was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

While the scheme will be presented before BCCI’s Apex Council on August 8 to seek a formal approval, PCA is expected to finalize a list of 30 players by tomorrow.

Hindustan Times also hinted at the likes of men’s captain Mandeep Singh, vice-captain Gurkeerat Singh Mann, senior pacer Siddarth Kaul, batsmen Shubman Gill and Anmolpreet Singh, wicket-keeper batsman Anmol Malhotra, India women’s white-ball captain Harmanpreet Kaur and wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia being among the A-list players in the state.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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