BCCI Increases Hosting, Participation Fee For Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

The BCCI on Sunday decided to increase the hosting fee of the six state associations staging the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh besides hiking the participation fee of teams from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. (More Cricket News)

The T20 event that began on Sunday marked the start of India's domestic season which was delayed by months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament is played across six cities and in a bio-bubble, which increases the cost for the host association.

"After receiving the feedback from the staging associations at the recently held AGM in Ahmedabad and the subsequent discussions with my colleagues at the BCCI, I am pleased to announce an increase in the hosting fee for Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament for 2020-21 season from the existing INR 250,000 to INR 350,000," wrote BCCI secretary Jay Shah to the six hosting associations.

The teams have been divided into six groups -- five Elite and one Plate and the league stage matches will be played at Mumbai, Vadodara, Indore, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru with the knockouts scheduled in Ahmedabad.

"Further, the Participation Fee payable to all the participating teams is also hereby increased from INR 50,000 to INR 75,000.

"All these measures are being implemented in order to assist the Staging Associations and participating teams for the conduct of the domestic cricket amidst these unprecedented Covid times," Shah added.