Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman ask to be paid for picking Team India coach - Report

New Delhi: As the date of picking Team India coach nears, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) consisting of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman have asked BCCI to pay them for the job.

As per a report in Indian Express, the trio have informed BCCI CEO Rahul Johri that they don’t want their services to be honorary. Johri is expected to pass on the message to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), which is expected to soon take a call on the demand put forward by Indian cricket’s ‘Big Three’.

CoA's final decision might be awaited but those in the BCCI agree with the trio's demand of compensation for the role.

“This happens to be a BCCI sub-committee, plus one of them happens to be a BCCI member. Since members of various other BCCI committees don’t get paid, CAC can’t be an exception. There was this demand earlier too, but BCCI turned it down,” said a BCCI office-bearer.

It has also been learnt that at one of the early meetings in 2015, a CAC member asked the BCCI office-bearer for a contract. “Even at that point, we had sent them a ‘scope of work’ document. They sent it back to us, but we expressed our helplessness. The ‘scope of work’ document had the terms of reference, but no monetary commitment,” said a BCCI official.

If reports are to be believed, it was Jagmohan Dalmiya who turned down the request. “According to him, the BCCI does not traditionally pay its committee members. The members are provided accommodation, daily allowance and a car on days of meetings. This is what is extended to CAC,” said an ex-BCCI office bearer.

Then, Dalmiya had welcomed the former cricketers’ new administrative role saying, “I am happy to note that our eminent cricketers have come forward to lend their experience and insights as we work towards a common goal of taking Indian cricket to greater heights. The coming generations are bound to benefit from the guidance that will be provided by these luminaries and will go a long way in strengthening our existing system.”

“The noble intention to ‘give back to the game’ is commendable,” the then secretary Anurag Thakur had said.