The demonetisation drive issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have put even cricketers in a spot of bother. Many cricketers playing in the ongoing Ranji Trophy have found themselves low on cash, reported The Indian Express.
The Modi government’s decision to terminate Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as part of its fight against black money has seen domestic cricketers struggle to hold onto their change as the bigger notes cease to be legal. The problem has arisen especially for teams whose associations have failed to arrange for the valid denominations.
Players from Goa, who are facing Kerala at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, have been put up at a hotel that only serves complimentary breakfast. Players have been forced to order takeaway from nearby restaurants, adding to a further loss of cash. “Even if we order, we need change for Rs 500 or Rs 1,000,” Goa coach Prakash Mayekar told The Indian Express.
“Somehow we are managing it. Few players have gone out and paid by cards. But it’s tough to go out each day just to pick up food,” he added. “We really don’t have change as the daily allowance we get is Rs 1,000. Last night I requested my manager and he arranged for the change. But we can’t just keep asking our manager to do that every day.”
The Vidarbha team is facing a similar problem. Their association has contacted the Cricket Association of Bengal, who are hosting them at Eden Gardens against Maharashtra, for help.
“We had been carrying our allowance for the first four matches. Now it’s gone,” team manager Kishore Wakode said. “The problem is that even the CAB is complaining about not having enough currency notes to accommodate our request, which is understandable. So we will have to try and arrange for something,” he added.
The Mumbai Cricket Association has asked its players in Mysuru to order room-service and bill it to their room. “We have told them that we will settle the bills later and say if some of them are keen on ordering from outside they can go ahead,” MCA joint secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar said. “We will reimburse that amount later into their accounts. We don’t want our players to go stand in queues to exchange notes. Some of them are well-known and it could cause a security hassle,” he added.
“The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has made sure that the full-meal buffet is on the house as far as we are concerned. We still aren’t sure if it’ll be directly debited to the account,” team captain Abhinav Mukund said.
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