The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ONGC contracted players in a predicament

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ONGC contracted players in a predicament

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: To play the Indian Premier League and part with half the fee or give up job?

That is the predicament of some players, including Delhi Daredevils icon Virender Sehwag.

Players employed with the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) are understood to have been asked to submit the MoU they have signed with the IPL as per the employment rules of the organisation.

In effect, it means the players need a formal approval from the ONGC to participate in the IPL.

Some of the key players from ONGC who have been contracted to play for various teams in the IPL are Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Praveen Kumar, Mithun Manhas and Mayank Tehlan.

The players need to take proper leave for the duration of the IPL and according to one of the clauses in the service rules they would be required to deposit half of their earnings with the employers. When participating in tournaments, the ONGC team reportedly shares the prize money by giving fifty per cent of the prize money earnings to the organisation and the rest is distributed among the players.

The players obviously are in no mood to share their IPL fee.

The players have not yet submitted a copy of the contract as desired by their employers. They have instead sent a letter from GMR requesting their availability for the IPL matches.

The ONGC authorities are said to be unwilling to recognize the letter from GMR.

Interestingly, the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) and the Indian Airlines Sports Board have accepted similar letters from their players written by the franchisees who own their teams.

Some of the prominent players from these organizations are V. V. S. Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, R.P. singh, Robin Uthappa and M.S. Dhoni (Air India), Murali Kartik and Sanjay Bangar (Railways)and Yashpal Singh (Services).

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