It was on March 5, that India’s elite cricketers signed a contract which states that their salaries were revised. However, the star cricketers still wait for their salary until now. This has not gone down well with the former cricketer Diana Edulji who is also a member of CoA. She has slammed the BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and blamed him for the delay.

While speaking to Indian Express Edulji said, “The players were worried that they were not getting their dues. And we couldn’t pay it till the contract is signed. The IPL was coming and we had to do the contracts because insurance was a big issue. And with the IPL workload, if we could have had some problems, like in the past we had with Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra, whose dues we as CoA cleared,” she said.

“The contracts are still stuck with them. The financial year is coming to an end. The players’ agents are ringing us up that they have to fill their returns and pay advance tax. Though the players know their grade, they can’t take it for granted till it’s in black and white,” Edulji added.

However, Choudhary said that he was not authorized to sign the new contracts. “I follow the law and the law is laid out. I follow the law of the subject and I follow the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s orders. With this, I can only sign after I have the legitimate authority (general body’s approval). I will not delay one second; the moment I have the legitimate authority,” Choudhary told this paper while adding, “Despite all impediments, the SGM goes on.”

However, Edulji is unwilling to buy Choudhary’s explanation and referred to an incident that happened last year when the contracts were changed.  She said,“The secretary’s carrying it with him. Last year we changed the contract a little, and it was ratified by the SGM. It was signed earlier. So why not now? He’s come to the BCCI office and the CEO and legal people have gone and requested him. ‘Yeah, yeah I will sign’ he said. He took it with him to Bangalore for the Awards ceremony. He still hasn’t signed it and we don’t understand the reason. It will eventually come to us putting our foot down.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 22, 2018 11:12 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).