Vinod Kambli and Ravichandran Ashwin (Photos: X)
India ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shocked the cricketing world with his sudden retirement announcement on Wednesday.
Announcing his decision to call it quits, Ashwin said, "This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level."
His retirement from international cricket sparked a wide range of discussions. One among them is why Ashwin gets paid more in pension by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) than former player, Vinod Kambli, while both of them played for India at the international level.
Here's why:
The spin wizard played 106 Tests on top of his 116 ODI and 65 T20I appearances. On the other hand, Kambli, appeared in 17 Tests and 104 ODIs for India.
Playing in 287 international matches, Ashwin bagged 765 wickets, while amassing 4,394 runs. Meanwhile, Kambli, who played his last Test in 1995 against New Zealand in Cuttack has amassed 3,561 runs in 121 matches with a lone ODI wicket to his name.
As per updated BCCI rules, a former Test player, who played for India would get a monthly pension of Rs 60,000, while a former first-class (FC) player would get Rs 30,000. Additionally an FC player, who retired before 2003 would get Rs 45,000.
The board significantly increased the pension amount in June, 2022.
But why do Kambli and Ashwin have a pay parity when both played Tests?
According to rules, a player who appeared in less than 25 international Tests is considered as a first-class player.
Kambli, with only 17 international Test appearances, falls in the category. Notably, Kambli garnered 9,965 first-class runs at an average of over 59, among the highest in the format.
However, the distinction in category allows him to get less pension than Ashwin or other former Test players.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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