Bijay Damase

April 9: As exciting as the world of Nepali cricket is, its economy is much more depressing than that. When the Nepalese team wins the title of any international competition, the whole nation feels proud about it. At other times, neither the state nor anyone else cares about the players and sports infrastructure. The result of this is the exodus of players.

What shall the players expect in a country that doesn't even have a decent playing ground? The sports infrastructure in Nepal is insufficient and the salary of the players is also nominal. Neither the player nor the sports fan is satisfied with this.

Even though the government formed the Ministry of Sports to look after the sports sector, it has not done anything other than honoring the best players. The government has been giving a small budget based on the progress of the game while the Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) is providing salary and stipends to the national players with the support from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

The government does not provide financial support to conduct sports competitions. The state only supports organization the Prime Minister's Cup tournament. Last year, the budget for the Prime Minister's Cup was Rs 6 million. This year it has been reduced to Rs 4 million. CAN officials say that their cost is around Rs 20 million.

The entire sports sector is reeling under financial crisis. CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand says that sports sponsorship has started to decrease due to financial problems faced by the private sector.

The ICC gives CAN US$1.3 million annually. CAN has been managing the expenses of the coaches to the national tournament from that money in addition to other sponsorships.

The salary of male players under central contract has been increased by Rs 10,000 per month. Before the increase, A grade players used to get Rs 50,000, B grade Rs 40,000 and C grade Rs 30,000 per month. Now A grade male players are getting Rs 60,000, while that of B grade players is Rs 50,000 and Rs 40,000 for C grade. The new salary scale was implemented from last year. Similarly, CAN has increased Rs 5,000 per month for C grade and 6,000 for A and B grade players. Earlier, female players of C grade used to get Rs 10,000, B grade Rs 12,000 and A grade Rs 15,000 per month.

According to the 2022 Central Player Agreement of CAN, the A Grade players in men’s category include Sandeep Lamichhane, Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sompal Kami and Karan KC. Similarly, Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Sharad Vesawkar, Aarif Sheikh, Avhinash Bohra, Binod Bhandari fall in B grade. Grade C players include Kushal Malla, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Kamal Singh Airee, Bikram Sob, Sahab Alam, Sushan Bhari and Pawan Sarraff.

In the women's side, the Grade A players include Rubina Chhetri Belbase, Sita Ranamagar, Indu Berma, Kajal Shrestha and Karuna Bhandari. Grade B players include Sarita Magar, Kabita Kunwar, Apsari Begum, Saraswati Chaudhary, Sabnam Rai and Jyoti Pandey.

The Grade C players are Dolly Bhatt, Kabita Joshi, Sangeeta Rai, Roma Thapa, Asmina Karmacharya, Mamta Chaudhary and Bindu Rawal.

"The amount given by the ICC is spent on players, coaches, CAN staff, competitions and awards to the winners," Chand said, "Most of the amount is spent on closed-camp trainings."

The Asian Cup qualifiers require 60-day camp. One player’s daily expense for staying in a hotel during the closed-camp training is Rs  3,500 to Rs  4,000. CAN spends Rs 100,000 per day for such players for food and accommodation. It means that Rs 6 million will be spent in 60 days. This expense is neither borne by the government nor the ICC. Chand says that CAN itself has to raise this amount by taking loans. According to him, players get USD 50 allowance per day while playing ICC and ACC-level tournaments. They get other additional facilities including food and accommodation and additional incentive money from the CAN.

Apart from ICC, CAN's other source is money raised from sponsors and spectators.

CAN President Chand says that there is not much sponsorship in sports competitions from government organizations and the private sector. "We have submitted several proposals for sponsorship to Nepal Telecom and Electricity Authority, but there was no response," he said.

Although it is everyone's responsibility to elevate cricket, it is being neglected by the government institutions.

"Government should emphasize on physical infrastructure development for cricket," says Chand, "Government should give instructions to government organizations for sponsorship. Only then will the sport develop.”

 Former captain of the Nepali National Cricket Team LB Chhetri says that the government is neglecting cricket. According to him, the government does not give the award on time even after the victory, let alone building the physical infrastructure.