BCCI Introduced A+ Category For Umpires; Check Out The Salaries Of Indian Umpires: Renowned umpire Nitin Menon is amongst the highest earners among Indian umpires, according to the latest gradation finalized by the BCCI.
The board has recently introduced a new A+ category of BCCI umpires. And Nitin Menon, who is the only Indian in the 11-member ICC Elite Panel Of Umpires, is in this new category along with 9 others.
The others in the A+ category include four international umpires: Anil Chaudhary, Madangopal Jayaraman, Virender Kumar Sharma and K N Ananthapadmabhanan while Rohan Pandit, Nikhil Patwardhan, Sadashiv Iyer, Ulhas Gandhe and Navdeep Singh Sidhu are also part of the this new A+ category.
20 umpires, including senior official C Shamshuddin, are categorized in the A group; 60 are in Group B; 46 in Group C; and 11 in Group D which falls in the 60-65 age bracket.
This decision and categorization were made at the BCCI’s Apex Council meeting on Thursday, the work formulated by former international umpires K Hariharan, Sudhir Asnani and Ameesh Saheba, and members of the BCCI umpires’ sub-committee.
What are the umpires’ salaries?
Umpires in A+ and A categories are paid Rs 40,000 a day for a first-class game while Rs 30,000 a day are paid in the B and C category.
A BCCI official later clarified that the board has only created groups but there’s no such gradation, especially between A+ and A category umpires
“It is not grading. There are groups with A+ being the new category. A+ and A, one can say form the cream of Indian umpires. Umpires in B and C category are also good,” a BCCI official told news agency PTI.
“When it comes to assigning duties across domestic events starting at the top with Ranji Trophy, preference will be given group wise. The grouping has been done after reviewing the performances of the 2021-2022 season,” said the official.
Further, the official reacted to the criticism the Indian umpires have faced; and also reflected on the fact that it’s not an undermining factor that there is only one Indian in the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires, Nitin Menon, pointing out that only England has three of theirs while even Australia has only two umpires in the ICC Elite Panel; there is only one umpire in the ICC Elite Panel from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies.
“We put too much emphasis on the elite panel. Only England has three umpires in the elite panel, Australia has two and rest only one. You can only have so much there. The focus should be on improving standard of umpiring at all levels,” the official added.
