Zeecric Bureau
Bangalore: The upcoming fourth season of cash rich Indian Premier League was embroiled in another controversy on Tuesday when, according to sources, batsman Manish Pandey refused to sign the binding contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise.
Pandey was the first Indian to have hit a century in the IPL and has been a part of the RCB team for two seasons. The reason for the snub is said to be the salary of the cricketer as he gets only a fraction of the money earned by his counterparts due to the fact that he is still an uncapped player.
IPL rules clearly demarcate between the salaries of cricketers who have played for India on the international level and others who haven’t. As a result, players like Umesh Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary, who have played only a few games for India, have fetched up crores while ones like Pandey, who despite their superb performance in the IPL get peanuts in comparison.
To make the matters more complex, the ‘uncapped’ players rule only extends to the Indian players only while foreign uncapped cricketers like Mitchell Marsh (son of legendary Oz cricketer Geoff Marsh) have been raked-up for crores by Pune Warriors franchise.
