Hosting domestic season will be next to impossible, feels Abhinav Mukund

While the BCCI have successfully managed to do everything in their power to ensure that the Indian Premier League, the board’s biggest source of income, takes place, the challenge of hosting a domestic season, for the board, will be completely different altogether, if not a hundred times more rigorous. Thanks to India - by some distance - overseeing the most number of domestic teams amongst all countries, even hosting a truncated domestic season in a ‘safe environment’ will require the board to put in the gargantuan effort - in terms of planning, finances, personnel - and even that, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the country, might not ensure a fool-proof environment. 

“It's going to be financially taxing on anyone trying to do this. I don't see the domestic competitions happening in one place like the IPL is. So yes [if the season doesn't happen or is truncated], the financial implications will be huge for players who don't play in the IPL since it is the primary source of income for a lot of us.”

“Cricketers in England or Australia, for example, have state contracts, but that isn't the case with us. This [forced break] will bring about the topic of contracts for domestic cricketers. But I know it's very difficult to give contracts in the current environment.”

Mukund, now a 13-year veteran on the domestic circuit, is one of the few lucky individuals who has a corporate job, but that is not the case with a vast majority of players, especially those who don’t have IPL contracts, who are solely reliant on the money they earn in domestic cricket. The 30-year-old noted that a state contract system, which is followed in countries like Australia and England, would do a world of good for loads of cricketers, who as things stand are set to suffer irreparable financial damage due to the pandemic. The veteran did, however, clarify that he is personally yet to take up with the issue with the TNCA and the BCCI.

“I'm not sure Australian or English cricketers are employed by corporates. They're all contracted to the association, a lot of them continue to work for the association after their careers. It gives you security. Normally for players who don't play in the IPL, some of them play club cricket in England or Bangladesh. This year, even that has been shut out because of the pandemic. So there is no income. So yes, we do have to end up looking back to our state associations to see if a contract system would ever materialise.”