Seven Hyderabad Ranji players to join ICL

Lured by lucrative deals which would leave them richer by a whopping Rs 1 crore each, seven Hyderabad Ranji trophy players today defied the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) threats and joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL), giving a further boost to the cash-rich rebel series.

Upcoming 21-year-old batsman Ambati Rayudu and six of his teammates created a flutter in cricketing circles by becoming the first lot of Ranji players to join the Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group's parallel venture.

Although the organisers of the breakaway league did not disclose the financial details, it is learnt that the players would stand to gain a hefty Rs 90 lakh each for a three-year contract, besides Rs 1 lakh as match fees.

It is in stark contrast to Rs 60,000 that Ranji trophy players earn for a match. BCCI paid Rs 16,000 as match fee for a member of the playing XI and an additional Rs 44,000 as part of its profit sharing arrangement with domestic players.

In other words, if a Ranji player went on to reach the final, he would roughly get Rs 5.4 lakh per year, a pittance when compared with what the ICL is offering even an average player.

While ICL is offering Rs 30 lakh for an average Ranji player, it is willing to pay Rs 50 lakh per year for a player with international experience.

Apart from Rayudu, who was seen as a fine prospect early in his career, Vinay Kumar, Ibrahim Khalil, I S Reddy, Anirudh Singh, Kaushik Reddy and Shashank Nag were the other players to jump on to the ICL bandwagon.