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Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, was reportedly ready to relinquish his prize money worth ₹5 crore for the T20 World Cup win, to compensate for the lower pay to the support staff. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) awarded ₹125 crore prize money for the team including ₹5 crore each for the 15-member squad and the head coach Rahul Dravid, while the other coaching staff members were awarded ₹2.5 crore each, leaving lesser money on the table for the rest of the support staff members.
Notably, the other coaching staff included the batting coach, Vikram Rathour, the fielding coach, T Dilip, and the bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey, who were awarded ₹2.5 crore each in prize money. The conditioning coach and the physio guy were allocated ₹2 crore, which meant that the support staff had less money to get their hands on, and when Rohit Sharma heard about it, he decided to give up his prize for them.
“When the 125cr prize money was distributed, Rohit Sharma raised his voice and said 'support staff shouldn't get such less money'. He was even ready to relinquish his own bonus for us," said one of the support staff members to Abhishek Tripathi, a journalist from Dainik Jagran.
Just a few days ago, it was reported that Rahul Dravid, the former India coach, who played a key role in ensuring that the team won their first ICC trophy in 11 years, refused to take the bonus from the BCCI. He demanded the exact ₹2.5 prize money like the rest of his coaching staff.
As per the report from Hindustan Times, a BCCI source revealed, “Rahul wanted the same bonus money as the rest of his support staff (batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T Dilip). We respect his sentiments.”
