The Cricket Board and the players today appeared to have sorted out differences
on the contracts issue with both saying that the contracts would be signed in
the next few days.
"We had a fruitful discussion with the Board today. We are hopeful of signing
it in the next few days," skipper Rahul Dravid said after talks with
a BCCI committee on the issue.
At a press conference, Board Treasurer N Srinivasan, a member
of the committee, played down players opposition to some provisions in the contracts,
saying "there is no question of players' demand." "The Board
and the players are not two entities. It is a private matter. It is purely an
internal matter. We are very clear that the contracts would be finalised ,"
he said.
Besides Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly
and Anil Kumble were also part of the discussions with the BCCI Committee
which comprised Srinivasan, Vice President Shashan Manohar and former board
president I S Bindra.
The outcome of the parley is to be placed in front of the Working
Committee which is to meet in Delhi tomorrow.
The contracts, due from October 1 last year, could not be signed
before the team went for the World Cup in early March and then the BCCI
cracked the whip on players' endorsements by putting a cap on them.
The limit of three endorsements per player has been a bone of contention between
the two parties while the proposed flat retainership fee of Rs five lakh for
all players irrespective of their seniority has also sparked resentment.
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