A gradation system of payment based on performance will be in place for Indian cricketers before the end of the year but a contract system may be introduced in the long run, Board President A C Muthiah said in Chennai on Sunday.

"The Board is keen to have a system in place regarding payment of fees and other benefits to the players and I think such a system will be in place by the end of this year," Muthiah told PTI. "The players, who perform well have to be compensated and such financial schemes will definitely encourage better performance," he said.

Muthiah said the proposal in this regard, to be put forward by member of the Board's Finance Committee Ratnakar Shetty, would be studied carefully before being implemented. "The system needs some in-depth study along with the proposal for introduction of gradation on performance basis", he said.

Muthiah, however, refrained from commenting on how seniority would affect the payment of players. He also put on hold the contract system, which provides that no player should suffer loss of payment in the event of not playing due to injury or being put out of the team, saying, "In the long run, we would like to devise a contract system as in vogue in Australia and other countries for a period of three years".

Senior cricketers met Shetty in Mumbai on Thursday to press the Board to introduce the contract system with skipper Saurav Ganguly saying the system was likely to take final shape after three rounds of meetings with the Board.

The cricketers also held discussions regarding the graded payment system based on performance and seniority. Presently 12 players are under contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board and 23 with the Australian Cricket Board.

Muthiah emphasised that the Board had already introduced a medical benevolent fund under which a retired player or umpire suffering from 'terminal illness' would be paid Rs 3 lakhs for hospitalisation and treatment.

It could be said that Muthiah is following in the footsteps of his illustrious father, the late M A Chidambaram, who had served the Board for over 42 years in various capacities. Chidambaram played a pioneering role in improving the level of facilities of Indian teams on par with international standards.

It was he who first conceived the idea of benefit matches for retired cricketers and was instrumental in upholding the rights of Indian cricketers by hiking their match fees, allowances and facilities to travel by air, bridging the gap in contractual terms between foreign and Indian teams.

© PTI