The Board of Control for Cricket in India released the prize money of award winners at domestic level that included eight junior cricketers and two Indian women’s team players four months after the award ceremony, The Indian Express reported.

The eight male players who received Rs 1.5 lakh each are: Sidak Singh (Puducherry), the highest wicket-taker in the under-23 CK Nayudu Trophy; Aryan Hooda (Jharkhand), the highest run-getter in U-16 Vijay Merchant tournament; Abhishek Yadav (Jharkhand), the highest wicket-taker in Vijay Merchant tourney; Manan Hingrajia (Gujarat), the highest run-getter in the under-23 CK Nayudu Trophy; Apurva Anand (Gujarat), the highest wicket-taker in the under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy; Vathsal Govind (Kerala), the highest run-getter in under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy; Milind Kumar (Sikkim), the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy and Ashutosh Aman (Bihar), the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, received Rs 2.5 lakh as prize money.

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Shafali Verma who was the best woman player in junior’s cricket and Deepti Sharma the best player at senior level also received Rs 1.5 lakh each as prize money. All the awards were announced at a function held in Mumbai in January.

According to an earlier report by The Indian Express, families of the junior cricketers were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the release of the prize money would come as a huge boost.

Former Indian cricketer Manoj Prabhakar who was banned for five years for alleged match-fixing in 2000 will also be given his pending dues by the BCCI that amount to over Rs 1 crore.

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The decision follows the board clearing the dues of former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, of approximately Rs 1.5 crore, in December 2019.

BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri has been granted a one-year extension by the BCCI Apex Council as the board felt his expertise would be needed during dealings with the ICC. He had tendered his resignation to secretary Jay Shah a few months ago and his tenure was to end in April.