No play, no pay. This could well be the fate of players, who have signed up for this year’s IPL, which has been postponed and seems unlikely to go ahead unless BCCI figures an alternate window.

“The system of IPL payments is that 15 per cent is paid a week before the tournament starts. 65 per cent more is paid during the tournament. The remaining 20 percent is paid within a stipulated time after the tournament ends,” a senior official of an IPL franchise said.

“The BCCI has specific guidelines. Obviously, no player will be paid as of now,” he added.

Another franchise official clarified that salaries of players are not insured for a pandemic.

“We will not get any money from insurance company as pandemic is not covered in the clause. Each franchise has salary overheads ranging between Rs 75 to 85 crore. How can we pay if there’s no action,”e even though they understand that the parent body stands to lose close to Rs 3000 crore.

“It’s not just the Dhonis and the Kohlis who will be affected. Surely they would feel the pinch but for many first-timers, the Rs 20, 40 or 60 lakh is serious life-changing money after all the hard work. Hope BCCI has a plan in place,” he said.

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, however, said that at present, there hasn’t been any discussion about pay cuts.